The Black Mirror
by Cosmo-G1rl
Summary: Lost in time. Ellipsis has changed the last five thousand years of history. Now she has to escape back to the Photonic Sphere and find her old friends. But will her friends recognize her? Has history changed that much for her that she is all alone again? And what are those scientist doing with an ancient relic that gives off an eerie feel to it?
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

It was a shock to every one of the council members. Their faith in the invasion of the Photonic Sphere was quickly washed away. It was seen as an utter failure on the council's part. The king that day ordered the destruction of all undead legions and troops. They would have to wait if they were to invade the Photonic Sphere. Many of the council members were still in a state of disbelief, to think that the Gurgamet would be defeated by a single woman from the Photonic Sphere along with its accompanying troops. It worried many but more importantly it frightened the king. To think that many more warriors such as that one could be waiting on the other side. He would have to rethink his battle plans.

Originally the plan was to capture a mythic from the Photonic Sphere and use their powers to aide in the invasion but that was not the case. They would have to start all over again and rebuild their army. The one who had caused this great tragedy was discovered after the initial fighting. She was described as a mad woman out for blood. Most are unsure of what happened after their encounter. Many of the records were burned and discarded by order of the king to erase any more humiliation.

Rumor has it that the mad woman from the Photonic Sphere is still alive and is being kept hidden in an underground chamber deep beneath the council's headquarters, where they intend to preserve her and collect new knowledge and information about her people and the world she left behind.

Most of the council members were quick to believe that such a person could exist and almost immediately dismiss the rumors of her existence. They simply blamed the incompetence of the military leadership and also criticized the king. As members of the council continued to argue and point fingers, deep underground another meeting was taking place.

Deep underground where the light of the sky could not reach, was a long passageway with a single room at the very end. It was most disconcerting to many of the inhabitants for late at night they would hear a gentle tune only being carried by the still wind itself. It scared many and yet comforted some. The area was covered from floor to ceiling in black ice and snow.

Sergeant Joffrey of the now decommissioned undead army and ex advisor of the council was walking down this corridor to meet the person on the other side. Before the incident he was an elite captain with high standings in the eyes of the council. He was promised great things if the invasion of the Photonic Sphere was a success. But after the encounter he was demoted and humiliated. His rank was taken from him and he was made a mockery by the council. There were even rumors that Joffrey had fought with the Photonic warrior and lost, others say that it was a draw. The scar on his right cheek would haunt him for the rest of his days. It would be a simple reminder of when his life was turned upside down by a string of unforeseen events. And now he was heading down to meet this person but with different intentions than that of the council. He heard of a rumor of a magical device, created long ago to balance the Umbral Sphere and the Photonic Sphere. He was after the Black Mirror. He heard that it held a power that could reverse the flow of time. All Joffrey wanted was to go back to that fight and win.

The door was guarded by two Draconian guards. They sneered at Joffrey as he approached. Joffrey hated the Draconians, more than the Dwarves or the Gnomes. He thought they all were lower than him and this was just rubbing salt on the wound.

"Oye, you know the rules, Sergeant. No weapons allowed." One of the Draconian guards said. Joffrey glared at him and removed his sword and dropped it on the ground. He didn't need it anyway.

The chamber was covered with black ice with a bed of black snow on the ground. In the center stood a large wooden cross and on the cross was the woman that ruined his life. She wasn't moving much but as he moved closer he heard her give a small laugh.

"How's the scar Joffrey?" The woman asked. Joffrey glared at her but he returned the remark with a smile.

"It's healed up by now; after all, it's been a few thousand years." Joffrey said with a smirk. Suddenly the woman's eyes widen with shock. She had been in the ice chamber for so long she lost track of time and yet if a thousand years has truly passed why it hasn't affected her she didn't know. All these questions kept spinning and yet at the same time she was too cold to care.

"Tell me, you know of my name, but what about yours? What do they call you young warrior?" Joffrey asked.

"…Ellipsis..." Ellipsis said with a shiver. The cold was getting to her. She could almost feel the air around her slow down.

"Ah yes, I see you are noticing our ice chamber; particularly reserved for the worse kind of criminals. Once inside time slows down drastically. One day in here is like two hundred years on the outside. You've been in here for some time now." Joffrey said with a smile.

"…Why am I not dead yet?" Ellipsis asked as she could feel the cold once again stretch across her.

"Honestly I have no idea. If it were up to me I would have had you executed long ago." Joffrey said with a sour look on his face. He could only dream of one day cutting this woman's throat and watching her die.

"Still bitter about that fight I see." Ellipsis said with a smile, masking the numbness that was sweeping through her body and feeling it fade away.

"It wasn't a fair fight and you know it." Joffrey said in his defense.

"All is fair in love and war." Ellipsis commented as she lowered her head in pain.

"Cute quote, but past antics aside I have been tasked at interrogating you. What do you know of the Black Mirror?" Joffrey asked. Ellipsis gave a slight stir at those words. Joffrey gave a wicked smile. She knew something. Ellipsis's eyes widen with fright. Her heart started to race despite the cold.

"Nothing…" Ellipsis said as she turned away. The smile she once had before had suddenly been stolen from her by a mere stretch of words.

"You're a terrible deceiver." Joffrey said with a grin on his face. She knew something and all he had to do was to get it out of her, no matter what.

"You're a terrible fighter." Ellipsis said with a smile. She reeled her head back a bit only to spit directly at Joffrey. Joffrey stood there as the spit landed right on his face. His smile faded. He was reminded once again of the antics of this woman. He could not stand it anymore. Joffrey gave a loud grunting noise and turned around and started to leave as he wipes the spit from his face. The chamber doors closed and the black snow wrapped around Ellipsis surrounding her in a cocoon of ice. Joffrey got more than he expected out of her. He had suspected she used the Black Mirror, how else would she have known about the Gurgamet as well as the other troops? He was determined now more than any to get his hands on the Black Mirror and claim what is rightfully his. But in order to do that he would need help; he would need to seek out the psychic that told him of the Black Mirror.

Beyond the Red forest deep within the sulking trees; a small hut rested there near the black swamp. It was in the dead of night and the marmalits were calling out into the darkness. Joffrey left his horse behind. The Marmalits would feast upon animals that are tied down. As Joffrey marched through the swamp the twisted trees looked as if they were staring back at him in wonder. As he approached the hut a voice only carried by the wind surrounded him.

"Why must one travel so far from beyond the road?" The voice called out. Joffrey did not falter.

"Do not play games with me old woman. I seek your advice once again." Joffrey said. Soon the black waters near him began to bubble. As the water started to boil a figure emerge. She was tall and slim; with long white hair that reached the floor. As she moved towards Joffrey the plants around her lifted up as if they were given life and quickly died when she left.

"Well now Joffrey. No need to be rude. Can't a girl play?" She said with a smile. Joffrey was running out of patience.

"Tell me more about the Black Mirror and the warrior from the Photonic Sphere." Joffrey demanded in a rash tone. He was even more impatient and wanted to get to the bottom of this.

"Ah yes, the highlander. Quiet a fierce warrior you fought." The woman said as she plucked a blue rose from the ground.

"Enough Zayola! I already know of the fight I had with her. I just need to know more about her." Joffrey shouted. Zayola looked back at him with a sour look.

"She often dreams of her homeland, a land full of green and light. There is great pain in her heart. I can see it. She has resentment towards you. It seems in another place you killed her and in return she killed you." Zayola said as she peered into the flower.

"But now it's different. Surrounded by dark magic she decided to fight with you again and save her friend." Zayola said as she plucked one of the rose's pedals. Joffrey listened in intensely.

"What dark magic did she use?" Joffrey asked, he already knew the answer.

"It was the Black Mirror." Zayola said as she plucked another rose pedal and ate it.

"Where is it?" Joffrey inquired. He was more eager to know the whereabouts of the Black Mirror rather than the highlander in the ice chamber.

"You'll find it soon enough my dear. You have more pressing matters at hand." Zayola said as she turned her head back towards Joffrey. Joffrey stood in silence.

"There is a war brewing. The king is on his last leg. He will soon pass. And a new leader shall take his place. And with this new leader, war is sure to swiftly follow. Join the fight and you will find the Black Mirror. But beware, for the highlander will follow you…" With those last words Zayola plucked the final pedal from the flower and she turned into a puddle of water and seeped into the ground. Joffrey stood in silence. A sense of relief had come over him. He was going to find the Black Mirror but he couldn't let the highlander get to it first, she had to die.

Joffrey raced deep into the night. He couldn't let his hands get dirty with this upcoming task. He needed to hire someone else to do the job for him. And he knew one person who would kill anyone for a hand full of gold. As he skulked around the nearby village, decorated in tattered garments, he headed for The Stingy Dragon; a well-known tavern. The patrons were mostly elves with the occasional Dwarf but they stayed so close together they were most likely off in their own corner of the tavern. The atmosphere was quiet and still. The bartender veered his attention towards Joffrey as he entered. Joffrey approached the bartender and in a quiet tone asked for "The Rogue". The bartender got nervous. He took a step back and rubbed his upper lip with his fingers. He didn't say a word; he just redirected Joffrey with a glance to an empty booth on the far right corner.

Joffrey sat nervously at the empty booth. Suddenly right before him a single card appeared. And then another and another.

"Name of the game is poker my friend." said a voice. Another set of cards was placed on the opposite end of the table where Joffrey sat. Then right in front of him appeared a man in a dark cloak. He lit a cigarette and glared at Joffrey. His beard was scraggly and his eyes looked as if they told the tale of a long journey.

"I am not interested in game sir rogue." Joffrey said as he reached for his bag but his hand was suddenly pinned to the chair with a knife.

"No tricks now." The man said with a smile. Joffrey looked at him with concern. His hand was still stuck to the chair when the man reached over and took his bag. He began to dig threw but stopped when he found the gold. The man looked back at him with a smile. He took another puff of his cigarette and put it out on the table.

"So who's the target?" The man said as he lit another cigarette.

"The woman who destroyed my life; I want you to murder the woman in the ice chamber in the basement level of the high council's building." Joffrey said with cold eyes. The man looked at Joffrey with surprise in his eyes. He took another puff of his cigarette and stared at the bag.

"Money first then murder, deal?" The man said with a grin. Joffrey didn't say anything but gave a slight nod in agreement. The deal was set and the girl was going to die that's all that he wanted.

"Make sure to leave town for a few nights okay buddy. Give yourself a nice alibi." The man said as he took the gold from Joffrey's bag. Joffrey was unclear at what had just transpired but he understood that if the highlander was to suddenly wind up dead he would be the first suspect on the list. Joffrey got up to leave. The man in the hood disappeared. Joffrey looked around and realized that he was alone. The table was clean except for the cards on the table that the man passed out. Joffrey picked up the cards out of curiosity. They were all jokers.

The council's headquarters was stationed on a high mountaintop, surrounded by ice and snow. It stretched to the highest point in the sky and had numerous caverns dug into the mountain. It was a typical night, a stormy night. Streaks of green and yellow lighting arched across the sky. The clouds had a green tint to them as they hovered in the sky ominously. The trees surrounding the area were dead and rotten. The ground was poison and the air was foul. The headquarters had a series of guards that patrolled every hour on the hour. They were heavily armed and authorized to use lethal force when deemed necessary. As the central head of government in the land, other than the king's castle, it was a well defended and secure place. Ellipsis's private quarters was stationed at the very bottom inside the mountain so there was no possible way of her escaping.

In the dead of night, there came a sound, a horrible sound, a sound that echoed through the chamber halls. The bells at the top of the tower began to ring erratically with no regularity. Panic ensued within the council's headquarters. The clouds above turned from green to red and from the heart of the clouds a bright white light shinned down on the surface. It burned everything that it touched. The headquarters itself got caught in the beam of light and slowly started to deteriorate. No one knew what was going on. For every soldier that was caught in the beam they were turned to ash. The mountaintop began to shake and rumble.

Ellipsis awoke from her slumber. She heard the roar that echoed through the halls. For a brief moment she thought she was dreaming. Then suddenly fear struck her heart. She was still tied to the cross and still very cold. She twisted the bines around her wrists in hopes of breaking loose. But the more she twisted the tighter the ropes got. The door slowly crept open. Ellipsis's eyes stayed glued to the door, not knowing what she will see.

"Oh my…" A voice called out. Ellipsis peered around but saw nothing.

"What have you done to get yourself in this sticky mess I wonder?" The voice said. The voice was defiantly coming from within the room but Ellipsis could not see who was making it. She tighten her wrist in anticipation.

"Now, now, no need to get tense here." The voice called out. Suddenly the cross Ellipsis was tied on began to swivel. Soon it toppled over onto the ground. Ellipsis quickly jerked her head around, still not seeing anything. Then came a loud roar from up above.

"That's never a good sign." The voice called out. Soon Ellipsis's bindings were cut and there before her stood a man wrapped in a dark cloth. He sported several knives and daggers from his vest. Around his belt he was equipped with a pistol and rope. He walked over to Ellipsis and held out his hand.

"Come on pup, time to check out." The man said. Ellipsis wasn't sure right now whether she was dreaming or not, for the man seemed familiar to her. Ellipsis slowly rolled herself up but quickly fell. The man reactively caught her before she fell to the floor.

"Goodness you're cold." He said as he wrapped her in his cloth. Ellipsis finally got a good look at the man. He was scraggly looking. Untrimmed beard and unkempt hair decorated his head. He was taller than her but not by much. He looked like a typical mercenary with all his weapons and tools hanging about. Ellipsis tried to speak but couldn't, she was still far too cold to say anything. Her mind was still swirling. The man started to slowly sway her out of the ice chamber. Ellipsis felt the suddenly change in temperature as soon as she stepped out of the chamber. The ground felt like it was on fire for a moment. She started to shiver more intensively.

"You've had quite an ordeal." The man said as they continued to move slowly down the long passage. Ellipsis could only nod. Ellipsis could feel her heart pump with every step. Slowly the room around her stopped spinning, she was still shivering intensely but now she could see clearer. As she continued to move she glanced around and noticed the dead bodies of all the guards. Ellipsis tried once more to form a sentence but only got a few mumbles.

"Yes…I killed them. If that's what you're wondering." The man said as they continued to walk through the hallway and up the stairs.

Halfway going up the stairs Ellipsis tugged on the man's shirt for a rest. The stone steps felt warm. The man reached into his belt and pulled out a small flask. Ellipsis's eyes widen with desire. She slowly stretched her arm out to grasp the flask out of the man's hand and slowly brought it to her. The man stood in and watched as Ellipsis took a few swigs of the flask. She sighed with relief as she felt the warm surge burn inside of her. The man took the flask back and took a drink himself. He then offered her a cigarette and she took it without hesitation and ignited it. The warm glow of the lit cigarette was enough for Ellipsis to cease her intense shivering. They both sat there in a moment of silence. After a few puffs Ellipsis turned to the man.

"…Nomen..?" was all that she could form. It wasn't English but a language she hadn't spoken for a very long time but it was the only thing that could come out of her mouth. Her hand trembled with the lit cigarette. The man looked at her with an inquisitive gaze in his eyes. He seemed to understand.

"Ridley and your 'nomen' ice lady?" Ridley said with a grin. Ellipsis sat in silence. She looked at the man. Her eyes jumped up and down, scanning every inch of the man. The resemblance was uncanny. But this one was a human and not a Draconian. She was absolutely stunned and thunderstruck by what had transpired she dropped the lit cigarette to the floor. Ellipsis's mind was spinning around. This was something unheard of. How can this man be Ridley? Is it the same Ridley, the same one in the bus? Why isn't he back on the bus? Could this be what the wizard intended by taking responsibility for possible change? What else has changed? The world began to spin again for Ellipsis but this time it was too much. Her head stared to ache and her vision went blurry. She slumped over on the steps. Ridley reached out to catch her before she tumbled down the stairs. Ellipsis was knocked out cold. Ridley gave a small sigh and hoisted her upon his shoulders and started walking up the stairs. It was time to leave.

Ridley carried Ellipsis through the strangely empty corridors. He thought there were more guards around when he entered but now it looked as if they all had fled. This raised a few concerns. All he actually had done was rang a few bells and slipped away. The loud roar was something new and the whole mountain shaking was defiantly alarming. He decided to pick up the pace and move quickly. He had to get the strange woman out of here and far away as possible. Whatever reason why that man wanted her dead was no concern to him in the slightest. This was all just a random spur of the moment rescue. Regardless if he knew the girl or not, the guy who asked Ridley to kill the girl looked like a colossal prick and sometimes that's just enough to switch everything around. He had his gold anyway. Serves the prick right, never pay a rogue in advance. Ridley was not sure what was going on with the empty corridors and dead guards but the more panic and chaos means a higher chance of escaping. Ridley hadn't thought much of what to do afterwards nor has he given much thought of his betrayal but he figured he would improvise.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Improvisation has never really been one of Ridley's strong suit. Then again he hasn't had much luck with planning things either as they always tend to go a different route. Things seem to be going well for Ridley right now. There have been no guards nor has he located the source of the roaring. To him as long as he didn't encounter it he should be fine. And of course as things progressed he would fine himself in an unfavorable situation. For example, getting lost in a huge quivering building while carrying another person on his shoulders; suddenly meeting the source of the roar.

It was a hell spawn demon dog. Crawling on all fours and roaring at the top of its lungs, if it even had lungs. It was large and hunched over sporting dull white horns across its back. Its fangs protruded from its mouth and its eyes glowed with a yellow light. It was in the center of a drawn circle with numerous strange symbols on the floor, surrounded by several dead bodies. But funny enough there was no blood.

Ridley stood in the darkness watching.

 _Fuck…_ he thought. He was lost and he was stuck with an unconscious dead weight and a hell spawn mutt. There had to be another way out. It would take him awhile to sneak pass the hell spawn dog but eventually he would do it. These were all bad signs but that didn't matter, none of this mattered to him, it didn't involve him so why should he care?

As he stepped out into the night he heard the roar of the hell spawn demon dog as the building continued to quake. It was at this moment Ridley suddenly noticed the sky and what odd colors it was and then of course came the bright white light that shot from the clouds and engulfed him and Ellipsis. It wasn't bad. He was caught in the heart of the blast but it wasn't as bad as he thought it would be. Suddenly it was as if he was being carried off the ground and into the sky. He spun around in the air as he desperately tried to hold onto Ellipsis.

"Sentio infirmos." Ellipsis mumbled to herself. Ridley didn't take notice to the strange language as there suddenly was a feeling of weightlessness and then came a rough landing along with some broken glass. Ridley came face to face with a hard metal surface that smelled funny. He couldn't see very much of anything. It all looked very bright to him. He could only assume he was in the Photonic Sphere but where? Then he heard screams and shouting all around him. Suddenly something big with a cold left arm strike him in his face. Ridley saw stars as he was fell back, he suddenly couldn't move. It was as if his whole body had shutdown. Everything faded after that. He didn't remember much. He didn't even know where Ellipsis went.

When Ellipsis had finally woken up she was resting on a soft bed. She sprang up with such energy and terror in her eyes that she spun around and backed herself into a corner. It was a white room. She was dressed in light blue pants and shirt. The room had a large mirror on one side of the wall with a camera looking down on her up in the far left corner. A ventilation system was firmly placed in the center of the ceiling. There was a door on the far side from where Ellipsis stood; it had a tiny window to see through. Ellipsis sunk herself to the floor. She wasn't sure if she was dreaming or not. Her eyes quickly darted around and locked on the security camera. Then she looked at the mirror and saw her reflection. She moved over to the mirror ever so slightly as to not disturb anything. She couldn't help herself. She knew someone was on the other end of that mirror but now is the first time she actually got a good look at herself. To her she looked like she'd been through hell. There were bandages all around her arms and legs and a few small patches on her face and forehead. She looked into her eyes and saw the pain that Allea had told her about. But all things aside she was now in a new place. She was unsure of what happened to Ridley or where exactly she was. The glow from the lights above gave a subtly clue but she wasn't fully sure. It was not long before the door to her white prison suddenly slid open. Ellipsis jerked her head towards the door and moved over to it but was suddenly stopped by a floating brain in a jar.

"Greetings I hope you have enjoyed your stay with us! My name is Joe and I will be your assistant today. Welcome to the Future pre-dawn human. If English is not your main language I am fluent in over 600 different languages whether it is verbal or telepathic." said the floating brain in a jar. Ellipsis stood silently gawking at Joe. She was a bit perplexed.

"Future…?" Ellipsis questioned.

"Ah good, English is your main language. We weren't sure in the beginning. When we found you and throughout your recovery you were speaking in a range of differently languages, everything from old earth Latin, old earth French, old earth English and one other language we were not sure of." Joe said in a cheerful voice. In a way it was comforting but the one question still loomed over Ellipsis's head.

"Where am I?" Ellipsis asked. She took a moment to glance around her surrounding area.

"Never fear pre-dawn, you're in sector 7Z a quarantine zone on the spaceship Void Central. You will be contained here until you are deemed safe to properly communicate with the other personals aboard this ship. Please if you have any questions feel free to ask at any time as I am here to help you." Joe said with a cheerful tone. Ellipsis was dazed from that sentence. If it was all true, then she really is in the future or in the present.

"Joe. Did your people find another person with me, a man? Scruffy beard black hair. Probably looks like he'd take your wallet before he shook your hand kind of guy." Ellipsis said inquisitively. She thought the description matched him perfectly if he was the same Ridley.

"Ah yes the other pre-dawn human. Have no fear he's being taken good care of by another service bot of ours." Joe said. Ellipsis gave a small sigh of relief. Ridley was alive and well. Knowing him, well hopefully knowing him, he's probably taking advantage of the service bot.

"Who is on the other side of that mirror?" Ellipsis said as she turned her head towards the mirror.

"Ah, so you've come from a civilization with two way mirrors. Excellent! On the other side of the mirror are a few scientists, heavily suited for handling biohazard materials, who have been monitoring your recovery. Fear not they mean you no harm pre-dawn human." Joe said cheerfully.

"And why do you keep calling me a 'pre-dawn human'?" Ellipsis asked.

"Well a long time ago the human race had taken the next evolutionary step in order to adapt to living in space. Your brain scans show that you and the other pre-dawn human do not have that trait. Therefore adjusting to life in space will be difficult for you. But fear not we are here to help. If you don't mind me asking, what do your people call you where you are from?" Joe asked in a cheerful tone.

"Ellipsis…" Ellipsis said. She was a little bit nervous of what was Joe going to say next but she had an idea at this point.

"Welcome Ellipsis to the future!" Joe said in an overly dramatic tone. The tone threw her.

"Will it be possible to see the man I came with?" Ellipsis asked. She figured Ridley would know a bit more about what's going on than her on how they got here. Joe stood silent. The silence reached an awkward level.

"Ah yes. I should have known he was your mate." Joe said with a cheerful tone. Ellipsis reeled back in shock. She was dumbfounded. She tried to speak, to say something like 'no' or 'hell no' but nothing came out of her mouth other than a stutter.

"Have no fear Ellipsis; I shall go retrieve your mate right away." Joe said. And with that the floating brain in a jar turned around and left the room. The door closed tightly before Ellipsis could react. That did not go exactly as planned but still some progress was better than no progress. Ellipsis turned towards the mirror and up at the camera. No doubt they people behind the wall were writing vigorously in their little notebooks or space books or whatever they write on. Ellipsis then gave them a small gesture implying that they fuck off. Whether they understood the meaning of the middle finger didn't concern her right now, she felt a little better though. Being stuck in a room like this reminded her of what the soldiers of light did. At least she wasn't an undead vampire so they are not gonna run tests on her like using her as a moving target or test her regenerative abilities by stuffing her in a vat of acid. Being captured by a gang of priests and tortured in the tower of London was a walk in the park compared to what she experienced with the soldiers of light.

It wasn't long before the door opened up again and Ridley came strolling in. He was wearing a smile on his face and he had what looked like a cheap homemade cigar in his mouth. He was also wearing a white bathrobe along with matching slippers.

"Hey kid, ain't this place great?" Ridley said as he took a puff from his cigar. Ellipsis stared at him and the only thing she did was smile and chuckle quietly. This certainly should not have been surprising. Ridley always did seem like his default mood was happy go lucky. The door suddenly slammed shut behind him as he entered the room.

"Too bad you were still asleep when they gave us the bath. That was excellent." Ridley said as he sat down on the bed next to Ellipsis.

"Apparently I missed out on a real party." Ellipsis said as she motioned with her hand to Ridley's new bathrobe and slippers.

"Oh yeah I got these from the one robot. Dumb as rocks but he's alright. Say, what's your name anyway I don't think I got that? You passed out near the stairs." Ridley said as he took another puff of his cigar. He looked like he owned a penthouse suite somewhere in Miami.

"You really don't know, do you?" Ellipsis said as she looked at Ridley. Ridley looked back at her with a surprised look. He squint his eyes and tilted his head. But he came up with nothing more than a shrug.

Ellipsis gave a quiet sigh and turned away. A cloud of disappointment hung over her.

"I guess I really fucked up this time." Ellipsis said as she reached for Ridley's cigar and took a puff herself. She then stared off towards the mirror, Ridley still had his eyes fixed on her, trying to figure out who she was.

"I don't know you, but do you know me?" Ridley asked. Ellipsis blinked for a moment and turned to Ridley.

"I know your name is Ridley. And if you are the man I think you are; you have a sister name Samantha, you like to steal and play games with people. You have a taste for music, whiskey and tobacco. You carry a deck of cards with you and you can't help yourself but gamble. You have a knack for sneaking around and you're good with machines, not as good as your sister but pretty handy. You have been traveling a lot and all you want to really do is go home and see your sister." Ellipsis said with a smile. She was thinking back to those little moments, however short they were, with Ridley. Ridley sat there wide eyed staring back at Ellipsis. Ridley gave a quiet, soft chuckle and turned away from her.

"I'll take that as a yes." Ridley said as he sat there dumbfounded. Not only did this woman know him but she seems to know a lot more than many of his closest friends.

"So how about you start from the beginning?" Ridley said as he clapped his hands together.

Ellipsis nodded in agreement. She started to tell him the whole story; beginning with her name and her story to meeting up with the wizard of the Umbral Sphere. As she told the story Ridley sat in silence. The story he was hearing was fascinating but nothing really surprising giving the circumstances. By this point the homemade was still burning with an orange glow. They passed that thing back and forth throughout the story.

"Sounds like a hell of an adventure kid." Ridley said as he stood up to stretch. Ellipsis could hear the bones in his knees crack as he stood. Ridley turned towards Ellipsis, his hands in his pockets.

"Say Ellipsis…You up for another adventure? Figured you got a lot of field experience and I could use a traveling buddy." Ridley said with a smile. Ellipsis looked at him; her eyes looked weary from the day.

"I think I've had enough adventures for a dozen lifetimes." Ellipsis said as she stared at the floor. Ridley gave a smile.

"Offer still stands." Ridley said as he turned around and walked to the door. The door slid open and in a flash he was gone. Ellipsis was left all alone. She looked around at her empty white prison and gave a low sigh. She had given up hope of finding anybody here. She could be a thousand miles away from her friends or right next door. It didn't matter to her. She was done with the adventures. Though she did prevent all hell breaking loose thousands of years ago, in the end she was still alone. She sat there wondering to herself if it was worth it. She still had the homemade cigar in her hand as she took another puff the embers burned her fingers. She gave out a high pitch yelp. As the cigar rolled on the ground two words popped out to her. Her eyes widen with hope. It was incredible. It was uncanny. The two words that were written on the cigar were, 'Jane Parker'. Ellipsis jumped to her feet and frantically looked around. She then went up the mirror and shouted, "Jane!"

"Jane Parker I know you're there!" Ellipsis cried out. It was an incredible feeling. She felt like she wasn't alone anymore. Though doubt hung over her head as to whether Jane would be the same or not, it still was better than being alone in this new world.

It has been two days since the arrival of the pre-dawn humans. And with the unexpected death of Dr. Bronsworth people are starting to wonder if digging up those relics from earth was a good idea. It was around quiet hours when Jane began to compile her findings from the past few hours.

"Subject is a pre-dawn human female; approximately five three in height; weighs a hundred and fifty pounds; black hair, brown eyes. Subject seems to have trouble sleeping during quiet hours. Subject during quiet hours has repeatedly asked for alcohol in large amounts. None were given. As subject goes to sleep she almost immediately wakes up screaming. Subject then would sit in the opposite corner of her bed for hours at a time. She has yet to sleep. When questioned about where she came from she laughed and said 'Earth'. Earth is a barren planet and has not been inhabited by other lifeforms for the past hundred years. When asked about her age she again too laughed at the question and said 'Somewhere in the five thousand year category'. Subject is erratic and is now claiming she is from 'the past'. Claims were made about time travel as well as preventing dangerous events from happening. Subject also shows a sign of obsession over one's image. She is noted to be staring at the mirror in the room quite often. When questioned subject says that she hasn't seen her reflection in a very long time. Subject has briefly talked about where she came from calling it, 'A dark a terrible place.' Subject shows no signs of being violent in any way. Nor does she appear to be any biological threat to the men and women of this facility. As the leading psychiatrist I am about to introduce myself to her." Jane finished up writing her notes and began to walk to where Ellipsis was kept. Her desk was usually kept nice and clean however it was littered with dirt from her missing potted plant. Jane ignored this predicament as she already had a pretty good idea where her plant went as well as who was responsible.

The whole room was white with a two way mirror that viewed Ellipsis. There was a man sitting behind a row of computer monitors in a haze mat suit. The tests from the past few days reveal that the subject was not a biological threat and informed the man of such matters. Jane approached the entry point and asked a few guards to assist her for the sake of precaution. She was never one to gamble with her life and she wasn't going to now. Just because the subject has yet to show signs of aggression doesn't mean she won't.

As she entered the room Ellipsis stared at her. There was a tiny smile on Ellipsis's face. Jane approached her, still keeping her distance and held out her hand.

"Please to meet you, my name is-"Before Jane could finish her sentence Ellipsis cut her off almost immediately.

"Jane Parker." Ellipsis said. Jane blinked with surprise. She did not expect that. To her knowledge this is the first time they have ever met.

"Doctor Parker." Jane said with a small sigh. Ellipsis face glowed with surprise.

"Holy shit, you're still a doctor. Cool." Ellipsis said with some glee in her voice. She was happy to find any kind of similarities in this Jane with the Jane she knew. Jane was taken back a bit from this person. This strange person who talks and acts like they have met before. But she couldn't let these eerie feelings get the best of her. Jane just smiled back at Ellipsis.

"Why don't we have a seat?" Jane said as she motioned towards the bed. Ellipsis nodded in agreement.

"Name please?" Jane asked as she pulled out a pen and a small notebook.

"Ellipsis Tannin." Ellipsis said as she looked at Jane writing notes down.

"Damn you look the same. Same clothes, same hairstyle, fuck even your glasses are the same." Ellipsis said with a smile. She was picking up on as many similarities as possible, anything really to give her a sense of comfortability. Jane stopped writing and immediately looked up staring at the mirror. She wasn't looking at Ellipsis but she had a look of a small amount of frustration on her face. She was trying to focus on the list of questions that she had for this subject. Maybe diverting wouldn't be so bad. She figured she could get more out of her.

"I do apologize but have we met somewhere before?" Jane said as she turned to Ellipsis. She had a sour look on her face and Ellipsis caught on to that really fast.

"Aw look at you. You still got that disappointed scowl on your face. Yes we have met in a way." Ellipsis said with a smile. Jane started to get a little curious.

"Alright, tell me. What do you know of me?" Jane asked. This was a loaded question. She normally didn't push new subjects but there was something that got her about this one. Normally, patients wouldn't know their doctors name prior to their first meeting unless someone told them and this one in particular has been isolated.

"Alright, from what I know of you, well sort of you-ish, is that your name is Jane Parker. When you were younger you use to read a lot of books; mostly science fiction and fantasy. You told me that when you were little you always wanted to go on some random adventure much like in your stories. But when you grew up you tossed those ideas out because you learned it was impossible. You studied to be a doctor and we met inside an elevator where Io, another friend of ours, was about to punch you into oblivion. I believe you called Io a 'pugnacious brute'." Ellipsis said. She rubbed her chin trying to think of more things to say. Jane sat frozen. She was in a complete state of shock. Completely overwhelmed by surprise, she continued to sit there. Thousands of questions raced through her mind as to the reasons behind this. Though most of the things the subject had said were false the mentioning of Io and the words 'pugnacious brute' hung over her head. She was about to show the subject how mislead she was until that point.

Jane tried to pull herself together as Ellipsis was now looking at her and waving her hand in front of her face.

"Hey Doc…you alright in there?" Ellipsis said with some concern in her voice. She thought to herself that maybe dumping everything down on Jane like that probably wasn't a good idea but she couldn't help herself. Jane scrambled to reexamine the situation. In the heat of the moment she stood up with haste.

"I am sorry, but we must end our session early today." Jane said in a monotone voice. She appeared to have herself together as she started to walk towards the door.

"Jane wait, you brush your teeth when you're bored!" Ellipsis shouted out. Jane instantly stopped. A cold shiver ran up her spine. She turned around and stared at Ellipsis. Her eyes were wide with fright. She didn't even notice that she dropped her notes and pencil. This was too much for her. She had to leave. As she left there was a bead of sweat running down her back, she has never been this terrified before in her life. Her fear soon swelled to anger. There was only one person who could have known. One person who could have known about her teeth brushing habit and that was Io. She must have gotten to this woman and told her…as a prank of some kind. It wasn't Io's style of childish pranks but it wouldn't surprise her. Io was head of security; she would have had access to the facility.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Jane rushed out her sector and headed straight for Io's office. Io's office was near the top level of the facility overseeing everything that went on. It was her job to make sure that everything and everyone was safe on this vessel. Today she was busy with a bothersome service bot that has caused quite a bit of trouble with the other inhabitants. Xeth was brought on board a few months back as a broken service bot. Many of his previous owners had complaints of faulty wiring resulting in tasks being completed too efficiently, if there ever was a thing. Io had tried her best to make sure that the service bots on board understood their main protocols but Xeth was a bit hard.

Jane came through her door only to see Io stood before Xeth; trying to communicate with him but obviously failing. She was on the verge of tearing the service bot apart until Jane came in. Her robotic arm shinned in the light as she raised it up as if she was about to punch Xeth. Suddenly she felt a warm fuzzy tingly feeling inside.

"Jane! What can I do for you?" Io said with a soft smile. Xeth looked at her and looked back at Jane. He didn't say anything except he took this opportunity to quietly slip out of the room as Io and Jane started talking. He was done playing with Io.

"Io, be honest with me. Have you been going around and talking to the pre-dawn humans?" Jane said with worry in her voice. Io noticed that something had been bothering her.

"Jane, what's wrong?" Io said with concern. Jane started to get flustered.

"Just answer the question please!" Jane said out loudly. There was a mix of fear and anger in her eyes. Her fist was clenching and she looked like she was about to fall apart.

"Jane I haven't left the office since I came in during the early waking hours." Io said.

"Well, how else would the pre-dawn human know that I brush my teeth when I'm bored? The only people here that would know that are my parents and you!" Jane said with a red face. She was embarrassed about that little habit more than anything else and the last thing she ever wanted was anybody else to know. Io was stunned. Io had known about Jane's little habit the first night they were married. But she wouldn't go around telling other people's secrets especially Jane's. Jane on the other hand perfectly knew that but she was grasping at straws now. Io started to get worried. She didn't want anything bad to happen to Jane and seeing her upset like this only made her tensed. After a bit of silence Jane started to tell Io what had happened with the Ellipsis and her session. Io was baffled. She didn't know what to say. Science and time traveling was way above her paygrade. She was the head of security, not part of the science team. Io sat Jane down.

"It's gonna be alright okay Janney? Everything is going to be fine. That pre-dawn human just got lucky with what she said. My guess is that she heard about it from one of the service bots. Things around here have gone a little crazy since Bronsworth passed away and they brought in that giant stupid rock and a few ancient toys." Io said with a smile. She was trying her hardest to cheer Jane up.

"They're called relics." Jane said returning the smile. Jane sat in Io's office for some time while recuperating. It was just about the only place during waking hours where she could relax and feel safe. Io would then make her a cup of tea and let her be. Io went back to her deskwork. It was going to be one of those days. Suddenly a call came through. Io picked it up and listened carefully. Then without haste she got up and headed for the door but not before going over to Jane and making sure she was alright. Jane smile and nodded and then shooed her away.

"You have a job to do." Jane said playfully. Io returned the smile and left. The call that came in was to inform Io of a code alpha blue. Code alpha blue is used when an experiment or a subject has escaped their holding area and left the quarantine zone. As Io chased down the escapee, she was unaware of the activities that were occurring right above her.

Prior to Io getting the call, Ellipsis quietly reflected on her encounter with the Jane from this time period. After a minute of going over their conversation Ellipsis noticed the notes and photos that Jane had dropped on the floor. A sudden wave of fear and anxiety crashed down on top of her as she gazed into one of the photographs. An eerie feeling slowly crept up her spine. It was the Black Mirror. It looked just as she remembered it. It was if the sands of time had only grazed it. Was this the reason how she got back to the Photonic Sphere? The other photo gave her the shivers as well but not as great. It was the stone slab that she stood on. She could read the text plain and clear.

"Farewell to the world of light." Ellipsis read out loud. She suddenly felt cold and the room around her seemed as if the lights had dimmed slightly. A terrifying thought had crossed into her head and she quickly sprang to action. Unaware if someone on the other side was watching or not she grabbed the mattress and dragged it to the center of the room. She had been eyeing the air vent that hung over her the entire time. Though she didn't originally planned on escaping, she always thought of it as an option. As she jumped on the mattress to reach the vents she realized that she was not as agile as she used to be. She got tired quickly and her fingers started to hurt as she wrapped them around the bars of the air vent. But she ignored that and focused on getting out. As she swung back and forth while hanging on the air vent seal broke and she fell to the ground. An enormous rush filled her. Her head felt like there bubbled swimming around. She could feel her heart race as she tossed the seal to the side and jumped once more to the air vent opening. As she climbed in, she soon picked a direction and stared to move and move fast.

The air vents were surprisingly clean. Compare to some of the other air vents that Ellipsis has crawled through in the past this one was surprisingly dust free. It wouldn't be long before she saw a little light float by. It was a tiny servo robot. It had one eye with a tiny long tube underneath it. It was spraying the air vents and as it looked at Ellipsis it gave a small beeping sound and decided to spray her in the face. And just like that it left. Ellipsis pondered for a moment of what just happened and then decided to move on.

Meanwhile Io was at Ellipsis white room examining the area. Io then rushed back to the security control panel to view the monitors. So far nothing showed up as unusual. The man behind the computer screens got nervous.

"Where do you think she could be?" The man asked. He was scared of the pre-dawn escaping but he was more nervous about Io being that close to him. He heard the stories, everyone has. They said that Io lost her arm while fighting a ravenous pack of mutated hyenas and in the end she just shrugged it off and went to the infirmary. Others say it got infected and she decided to cut it off herself with a rusted hack saw. Whatever the reason for her missing arm it didn't detract her from protecting the people on this spacecraft. Io scanned the monitors and soon enough a smile came to her face.

"I know where she's heading." Io said as she whipped around almost knocking the guard behind her over as she raced out the door. She took off like wild animal running down the halls. For Io the solution was never that complicated. Where would someone go if they were locked in a private room for the past few days? Io figured out where Ellipsis would go and there she would confine her. There was reportedly no real biological threat but Io was not sure how dangerous this person could be to the rest of the men and woman aboard the ship.

From past experiences Ellipsis learned how to navigate her way through air ducts. As a thief, learning how to maneuver oneself through a building going undetected was a special talent. Unfortunately for Ellipsis that talent ran dry. She didn't have the advantage of walking up walls like how she did when she was a vampire. She had to climb her way. She wasn't as stealthy either, her breathing made the most noise. The design was usually something simple, never complicated. Luckily for her she figured out where to go. In the darkest parts of the air vents Ellipsis had wished she could see in the dark like she used to. But regardless of the drawbacks of being human again she pressed onward. She was determined to know if the pictures she found were true.

At one point she decided to drop down from the vents and get a good look around. She carefully opened the opening of the air vent and peeked down. It was a storage closet. She knew if she were to drop down now she would have a hard time getting back up. She jumped down anyway. On top of trying to get answers as to whether or not the Black Mirror is on the ship she was also curious about the area as well. If Jane is here could Io be here too? What about Samantha? Ellipsis didn't know but she was curious to find out. The room she dropped down to had selves of what looked like canned goods all stacked upon one another. Ellipsis curiously took one of the cans. It had no label or a recognizable design just a weird symbol that looked like a drunken letter T. She decided on impulse to crack it open. It took some strength but when she finally got it open, red liquid sprayed everywhere. She backed up for a moment. In that split second she thought it was blood. But it wasn't blood, it lacked the smell. She took a tiny taste. It was tomato paste.

Ellipsis quickly realized that she was in a pantry of some kind. After consuming the red paste she carefully opened the door to the outside. It was a kitchen and an empty one at that. There were more drawers and cabinets to explore. Out of everything in the place Ellipsis was focused on one thing and one thing only, alcohol.

Then off in the distance she heard glass clinking on the floor. She quietly followed the sound and soon enough she found an empty bottle. Then she found more empty bottles, they carried a strong and familiar smell to them. Ellipsis licked the top of the bottle, hoping to get that last drop of beer. Upon further investigation she found Ridley passed out on the floor. Standing next to him was a weird looking robot. It had no discernable features but Ellipsis got the feeling it was staring right at her. The robot looked at her and began talking.

"Hello my name is Xeth. What can I do for you today pre-dawn human?" Xeth said in a monotone voice. A flash of a cute smiley face appeared in a soft blue light on its face. Ellipsis breathed a sigh of relief. The robot knew she was a pre-dawn but didn't question what she was doing here. It was another one of those help robots and clearly Ridley had plenty of help.

"Calculating; sorry no…available. Anything else I can help you with?" Xeth said immediately. Ellipsis blinked a few times. She slowly became concern. She didn't say anything and yet the help bot assumed she did. Ellipsis looked at Ridley.

"What happened to my friend?" Ellipsis said as she pointed at Ridley. Xeth slowly panned its head to look at Ridley and then panned back to Ellipsis.

"Your friend said he wanted 'alcohol' so I aided him in his search as I am programmed to do." Xeth said. Ellipsis looked at Ridley and gave a small laugh.

"Yeah that sounds like him." Ellipsis said with a smile, a bit of relief past over her. This was all Ridley's doing.

"How is that?" Xeth questioned. Ellipsis looked back.

"Because he likes alcohol…" Ellipsis said. This was getting slightly annoying.

"But why does he like alcohol." Xeth said. Again Ellipsis blinked a few times. The warm fuzzy feeling of frustration slowly began to rise on the back of her neck and flow down to her knuckles.

"On average what is your friend's normal consumption rate give or take an alcohol substance between 50 to 100 percent? And on top of that what is his body weight?" Xeth asked. A question mark symbol appeared on its face. Ellipsis was on the verge of pulling out her hair. She clenched her first in frustration. It seemed like a never ending line of questions all nonsense and what not.

"I don't know!" Ellipsis said in a harsh tone. Tensions were starting to boil over. She was starting to see why Ridley drank himself to sleep.

"If you do not know then why do you consider him your friend? Shouldn't you know this if he was truly your friend?" Xeth said. Ellipsis at that point had lost it. She reached for one of the empty bottles on the floor and was about to throw it at Xeth when suddenly something caught her arm. She didn't see it but it felt hard and cold. She looked back only to be greeted with a familiar scowling face.

"Io…?" Ellipsis said in a curious tone. Io held a strong grip on Ellipsis's wrist. Ellipsis dropped the bottle. Io quickly than shifted her eyes towards Xeth and then Ridley. Ellipsis looked up at and down at Io's uniform.

"You're a dick?" Ellipsis said. This got Io angry as she then tossed Ellipsis out the doors behind her. Ellipsis flew through the double doors and fell flat on the ground. Io approached her from behind. Ellipsis quickly rolled and stood up. She appeared to have landed in a lobby of some kind. There was white all around her and it looked extremely clean. There were a few random onlookers who watched as Io approached Ellipsis.

"You're a slippery fish aren't ya?" Io said as she stood before Ellipsis. Ellipsis knew that look on Io's face. She was ready for a fight. Io charged at Ellipsis throwing a punch with her metal arm. Ellipsis dodged and moved out of the way. Io kept moving for a bit then stopped and spun around. Ellipsis kept close attention to Io's stance. In all the fights she seen with her, she normally goes all out in the beginning for a quick win. Io came at Ellipsis again but this time instead of throwing a punch she raised her leg and kicked Ellipsis in her face.

This took Ellipsis by surprise as she was struck in the face and knocked to the side. Ellipsis suddenly understood that much like Ridley and Jane, this Io was slightly different. She could not rely on old information if she was going to take Io on in a one on one fight. However, there were some similarities between the Jane and Ridley she knew and the new Ridley and Jane. Ellipsis tried to figure out what was similar with Io as Io charged at her again. This time Io threw two punches at Ellipsis. Ellipsis moved back and dodged them both. Though she has been out of practice she still remembers some of the skills she had learned while working as an assassin. As Io came at her once more Ellipsis ducked under her and struck her in her stomach. Io let out a lung full of air as she bent over in pain. Ellipsis moved out of the way as Io recovered from that hit and stood back up.

"Alright, it's been awhile since I've had a good fight! Come on small fry." Io said with a smile on her face. It was that smile that made Ellipsis feel relaxed. She saw some similarities in this Io and that gave her a sense of relief. That is until Io came back at her throwing another single punch from her metal arm. Ellipsis suddenly got an idea as Io came at her. She was going to test something on Io. As Io lunged forward with her punch, Ellipsis quickly stepped in close, sidestepping her punch and got real close to her face. Before Io knew what happened, Ellipsis embraced Io with a long kiss.

Io suddenly skidded to a halt and spun around to face Ellipsis. She stood there in complete shock. Ellipsis took a step back to watch her handy work. It was successful. Io looked as if someone had completely shut down her system. Io didn't move nor did she blink. She just stood there in absolute shock. She was no longer in a fighting stance. She just stood there.

"Uh, Io; are you okay in there?" Ellipsis said with a concern tone. She remembered Io shutting herself down when that werewolf tried to flirt with her. Apparently this was another similarity and it made Ellipsis feel more at home. Perhaps this was not such a strange world after all. Io then slump to the floor; she just sat there staring off in the distance. Ellipsis got really concerned at this point. She didn't think a kiss would have that much of an effect on Io.

"Io…Are you alright in that head of yours?" Ellipsis said as she slowly approached Io who was still at this point sitting on the floor gawking into space. Ellipsis no longer felt a sense of threat. After all this was Io. As Ellipsis stood beside Io, waving her hand in her face, she suddenly heard a humming noise. Before she found the source of the humming the source found her as she was struck under her chin by Io's metal arm. A sudden feeling of electricity raced through her body as she spun around and collapse to the floor. She could not move her body, all sensation was lost. As Ellipsis stared at the ceiling she saw Io approached her.

Io had a looked of disappointment written on her face. She didn't say a word as she grabbed Ellipsis and tossed her over her shoulder. Ellipsis was caught completely off guard. Guess there were an equal amount of similarities and differences in this new world. As Io carried Ellipsis through the space ship, Ellipsis caught a glimpse of something shinning. As she looked over she saw something that gave her chills down her spine. It was through a large window that she saw the stars of the universe staring back at her. She had never seen space before. She was completely thunderstruck. It was amazing. She then caught what was shining in the first place. It was a large piece of metal gently floating across.

"Wow…" Ellipsis muttered out of her mouth as a trail of drool descended upon Io's shoulder. Io didn't react to Ellipsis word or the drool but took notice of her reaction to seeing space garbage floating by the ship.

As Io brought Ellipsis back to her room, now with the vent properly sealed, She placed Ellipsis back on her bed. Before she could turn around and leave Ellipsis suddenly jerked her arm up at Io. Io quickly blocked Ellipsis arm.

"Still got a bit of a fight in ya? I like you kid." Io said with a smile. Ellipsis moved her arm more slowly this time. It was just about the only thing she could move other than her eyes and mouth.

"Io…" Ellipsis spoke out. Her face seemed half numb as her words slurred a bit. Io paused for a moment. It was not long before she noticed that Ellipsis was pointing towards the pictures on the ground.

"It's…dangerous…" Ellipsis said before more drool dripped down the side of her mouth. Io looked at the pictures on the ground and soon felt highly disturbed. Io looked back at Ellipsis who by this point had finally fallen asleep. The pictures themselves gave Io the shivers. Something was not right. Io took the pictures and left. There was more work that needed to be done today.

When working in the same environment as your spouse can be a bit hard sometimes. There are very good reasons why this is not allowed officially. Jane and Io have always kept a line between them when it comes to their careers. Sometimes thing would get a little too carried away and too stressful for either one; at that moment the line would blur. Emotions have been known in the past to run a bit high but eventually everything settles down and no one is the wiser.

In the amount of time it took for Io to chase down Ellipsis and Ridley, Jane had gotten herself situated and was soon back in her office filling out reports on the pre-dawn humans. Though she had received a bit of a shock earlier she wasn't going to let that get the best of her now. As soon as the door opened up and Io walked in the room the line between them manifested.

"Hello officer, what can I do for you?" Jane said in a very monotone voice. The lack of emotion was apparent. Jane didn't bother to keep her head up and was soon quickly filling out her paperwork.

"Doctor Parker, I just have some questions for you about these." Io said as she presented Jane with the pictures.

"These were found on the floor of one of the pre-dawn human's room. She seemed quite disturbed about them. What can you tell me about them?" Io said as she sat down and laid the pictures on Jane's desk. Jane stopped her writing for a moment, looked up with a glare and pushed everything aside to get a better view of the pictures. After a moment of looking she slightly adjusted her glasses.

"Ah yes. These are the relics that were excavated on the Earth." Jane said as she placed the pictures down.

"Anything else you can tell me about them?" Io said with concern.

"Well, the relics were excavated a few days ago and since then the recent Dr. Bronsworth had been experimenting on them. There seemed to be a reverbing frequency that is unknown to us. Bronsworth was conducting experiments with these relics and in his findings before his passing; he discovered that the stone and the mirror's frequency increased dramatically when the two were in close proximity to one another. On the day of his passing he placed the two relics together under a machine that was synch the frequency and mimic them." Jane said as she paused for a moment. She reached for her glasses and started to clean them.

"And that was when Bronsworth died?" Io asked.

"Yes. Apparently what had transpired was a complete unforeseen consequence. As the machine mimics the frequency with the already strong frequency being produced by the relics; he seemed to have created a sort of cascade as black water filled the chamber. As the chamber filled with black water there suddenly was a break as a third object appeared." Jane said as she reached in her desk and pulled out another picture. In this picture was a sharp black piece of metal. It had a handle on one end and a pointed tip at the other. It looked worn and rusted. Io's eyes grew wide.

"This was the object that broke through the glass chamber and killed Bronsworth." Jane said as she put her glasses back on. Io suddenly jerked her head up and stared at Jane.

"Why wasn't this brought to me?" Io said aggressively. She was starting to lose her patients. If there was one thing that she made clear to everyone in the departments whether it was the biology department or the engineering department was that she wanted to keep close tabs on everything that happens. Little things like these that slip by her get her really angry. The line was thicker now more than ever. Jane sat in silence.

"As you are fully aware, we don't have to report everything to you. The point of keeping this a secret was because it's the third earth relic that we have found. This one of all appeared out of nowhere from the first two and out of the mess we find ourselves two actual, living and breathing pre-dawn humans." Jane said as she leaned back in her chair. Io was sitting there stewing in her anger. Suddenly Io sprang from her chair and grabbed a hold of Jane's collar.

"Listen to me, I am responsible for keeping everyone here safe and you have seriously jeopardized everything!" Io said with fire in her eyes. Jane didn't flinch. She glared at Io's hands around her collar and looked back at Io with a cold glare.

"Get your meat hooks off of me you pugnacious brute." Jane said calmly. Io blinked a few times and let Jane go. Io then stormed out of Jane's office and slammed the door shut. She got more than she was expecting. She was now going to head to Bronsworth's old office and investigate the experiments that were conducted. As she left the room the line between them slowly faded. This wasn't the first time this has happened between them while working together. They mutually agreed that there will always be a line and they both respected each other for that. But as soon as it would be quiet hours the line between them disappeared, as if it was never there to begin with and all the stuff that happened between them during the waking hours on the clock didn't mattered.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Red…Red…Red…Something red was flashing. There was a feeling…claws…Something was crawling and a sound…There was a sound; a loud sound. Ellipsis slowly opened her eyes. Her eyes were greeted by a red flashing light coming from outside her white prison. The door was wide open. Then she felt something on her back. She jerked around and a black creature leaped off her and hissed. It was small and had large yellow eyes and sprouted horns on its head. It crawled on all fours as it raced up the wall and into the vents.

"Oh crap…" Ellipsis said as she got out of bed. She could hear the creatures murmuring to each other. There appeared to me more of them inside the vents as Ellipsis spotted several sets of yellow eyes staring down at her. Ellipsis quickly looked around. There didn't appear to be any in the room and the door was wide open. As she exited her room the floor felt cold. The lights all seemed to have gone out except for the emergency lights that gave the hallways a low dim look. The only other source of light appeared to be the red light that kept on flashing.

Ellipsis slowly made her way down the hallway and came across an elevator. The doors looked slanted and broken. Through the tiny space it provided Ellipsis could see sparks. Ellipsis looked around and discovered a half-eaten corpus. Its face was mauled off and there were tiny teeth marks all over the body. Clutched in its hands was a red fire axe. Ellipsis took it without hesitation and began to chip away at the elevator doors. As the doors fell apart Ellipsis peered into the shaft and saw only darkness. There was a feeling of dread the loamed over her. She noticed that she was at the very bottom and the only way out was up. There was a ladder to her right and a dangling electric cable that danced in front of her, spewing sparks often. Harnessing the fare axe over her shoulders she began to climb up and into the darkness.

Guided by the occasional red flash that peered through the cracks of the elevator doors, Ellipsis made her way up. Then for a moment, the flashing lights seemed to have ceased. All she could see was total darkness. Then it hit her. It was the elevator. Ellipsis hurried up the ladder and climbed onto the elevator. With her hands shaking and sweat running down her spine she rested for a bit. This was the first time since she woke up that she was able to rest and assess the situation. The things that were crawling on her were marmalits. And somehow they're here in the Photonic Sphere. Ellipsis didn't think much of it, she didn't have to. She knew right away what could have caused all of this. There was no other way. It had to be the Black Mirror. And now, it seems like the gateway is open and everything is gonna be pouring in. And soon all hell will break out. A cold shiver ran down her spine. She took a deep breath and prepared herself. She reached for the hatch in top of the elevator and opened it. Already the smell of death and blood filled her nose.

Four dead bodies greeted Ellipsis as she dropped down into the elevator. They looked like they were ripped apart. Blood stained the floor and the walls. A single arm sat alone in the middle of the floor. The chests were ripped open. Their faces were torn with very little skin left on them. Their clothes were drenched in blood. Ellipsis could feel her heart sink. She wanted to scream but didn't. Not even Nyssia left a scene like this. Her process was more planned and laid out; this was just savage and brutal. Though there were time when Nyssia did rip people apart and this shouldn't be that much of a shock to Ellipsis but with Nyssia you knew something about her or knew that she wouldn't hurt you. This was from an unknown source. It was the unknown that scared Ellipsis the most. She started to search for anything she could use from the bodies. This was also the first time she took a good look at a dead body and didn't feel hungry, instead she felt nauseated. This was both good and bad at the same time. Ellipsis fished out what she could before the tomato soup she had earlier could swim back up and say hello. The bodies were cold and lifeless.

What she managed to pull out of the four corpses was a security keycard and a pistol. The pistol looked old and worn out with corrosion and rust inside the barrel. There was only one bullet left in the chamber. As Ellipsis wedges the axe to pry the doors open she suddenly heard a groaning behind her. She paused for a moment, frozen by fear she stood still. Her mind was blank. She heard the sound behind her only get louder. Carefully she turned her head around and saw one of the bodies moving. It was trying to stand up but had a hard time grasping at the wall. It slumped over onto the ground and was now pushing itself up. Ellipsis had only a short amount of time. The axe was still imbedded into the doors. She had the pistol but only one bullet was left. It was too late. The corpus leaped up from the ground and sprang at her. It let out a hollering scream as Ellipsis twirled around and caught the creature in the nick of time. Its eye lit up and stared back at her. It pushed Ellipsis up against the wall and moved her into one of the corners. It was flailing its arms as it tried to bite and scratch her.

Ellipsis was struggling to keep the creature off her. She had no other alternative. With a single push she thrusted the creature back and in the instant she pulled out the pistol and took the shot. The bullet went straight through the creature's head and slumped down to the floor. A pool of black blood was now dripping.

"Zombies….why did it have to be zombies?" Ellipsis said as she took a moment to breath. She glared at her empty pistol and tossed it to the side. The clanking sound echoed around her. She didn't care. The gunshot would be difficult not to hear. She did a quick check on herself to see if she was injured and other than being covered in blood she was fine. The axe was still stuck in between the doors and she was free to return to her work. She paused for a moment. She suddenly remembered Io and Jane and hoped they were alright. Io she knew would be alright, she seen Io take on a werewolf; a handful of zombies won't stop her, unless there are other things running around here. But Jane though. Jane, as far as she knew, wasn't skilled at combat or anything like that. She was smart though, so if she were still alive she would have thought of something. Worry gripped Ellipsis as she wrapped her hands around the axe and began to open the doors.

The doors were jammed so they were a tad hard to open but as soon as Ellipsis could see the other side of the doors, the light was soon blocked by a dark figure. Ellipsis reeled back and released the axe. The doors closed shut.

Something on the other side was pressing up against the door. The sound of metal bending vibrated all around Ellipsis. Suddenly the doors started to wobble. Then what looked like a tiny piece of metal protruded out between the doors. They stuck out even further and soon folded over on one of the doors. The doors wobbled again and were soon pushed open. The figure stood before Ellipsis holding the doors open. It was Io and she looked like a mess. Her uniform was torn to bits revealing her metal arm and her chest. She had a cut on her right cheek. She was missing both her boots and there were bandages wrapped around her bare knuckle. Ellipsis stood in the elevator, shocked and silent.

"Just the little bird I wanted to see." Io said with a grin as she reached in and pulled Ellipsis out. Io slammed Ellipsis against the wall.

"Alright, spill it. Who are you? Did you know this was going to happen?" Io said with such ferocity in her eyes. Ellipsis had the wind knocked out of her as she was slammed against the wall. Getting her breathe back took a few seconds. Io remained her firm grip around Ellipsis collar. Seeing Io look like this brought a smile to Ellipsis face. The uniform was certainly not the Io she knew; this was more of her style. Ellipsis started by taking a deep breath.

"My name is Ellipsis Tannin I am five thousand years old. I use to be a vampire but went back in time and prevented my first death from happening using the Black Mirror that you guys somehow found. In the first timeline you and I were friends along with Jane Parker and others. We traveled for a short while in a bus that could move through space and time; driven by potentially my crazy great ,great, great ,great, great granddaughter. You were a pit fighter and we met in jail. You like cheese and beer. You prefer to fight things with your fist and hate guns. And now it seems like someone above really fucked things up and opened the gates to the Umbral Sphere." Ellipsis said. Io stood in silence. She was slowly processing everything that was just said. Most of what Ellipsis said about her was true and it was unsettling. Io let go of Ellipsis collar, while still processing.

"So what am I like? The 'me' you know." Io said inquisitively. Ellipsis adjusted her stance as she was brought down and dusted herself off a bit.

"Well…you kind of look like you do now. You also ripped a pipe out of a wall when you were chained to it and you single handedly fought a werewolf. You also go shot in the shoulder but still kept fighting until you passed out. You also ripped open a metal door to a reactor filled with radiation just to get my unconscious body out." Ellipsis said. Io was stunned and a smug look of pride streaked across her face and lit up her eyes.

"Ah, hell yeah I'm awesome!" Io shouted. She had that familiar aura of confidence. There was no doubt in Ellipsis's mind that this was Io. Their moment of silence was cut off short when all of a sudden they heard gunshots going off in the distance. Both Io and Ellipsis headed towards the sound only to be confronted with a hallway full of rotting bodies; at the end of the hallway stood two figures. The figure on the left stood still and silent. The smell of gunpowder filled the area. The figure on the right was crouching, peering over a dead body on the floor. Then Io and Ellipsis heard them speck.

"Nothing on this one, oh well let's keep looking." The figure on the right said as he stood up. In his hands he held a shorten shotgun and was in the processes of reloading it with shells from his pocket. Ellipsis stepped out from behind the corner. She knew immediately who that was. As Ellipsis revealed herself to the two figures they both turned towards her.

"I'm not surprised in the slightest that you're still alive." Ellipsis said with a grin. The figure on the right stepped forward from the shadows. It was Ridley and he cracked a smile on his face as soon as he saw Ellipsis while Xeth stood silently in the background, silent as ever. Ridley was wearing his normal clothes that Ellipsis saw him wear in the Umbral Sphere. He somehow got them back.

"Hey Tannin, you're still alive too. Excellent, here take this. It's better than that stupid axe." Ridley said as he handed her the shotgun he held in his hands. Ridley reached into his cloak and pulled out two pistols. Ellipsis stood in silence. She was not surprised by this display. Io on the other hand stood behind the corner gawking at the scene. It wasn't long before Ridley noticed and took aim at Io's head and fired off a shot. The bullet came close to hitting Io but instead impacted the corner of the wall near her face. Io jumped back in fright.

"Whoa, easy there gunslinger, She's with me." Ellipsis said as she raised her hand in front of Ridley who was still grinning at this point. Ridley placed his pistols back in their holsters. Io slowly made her way around the corner.

"So Tannin you're with iron fist here eh? Alright, I'll accept that. We need all the help we can get if we are going to get out of here." Ridley said with a smug look on his face.

"No one is going anywhere." Io said in an authoritative tone. Ridley looked at Io with a slightly impressive look on his face. He was curious enough to know what she intended by that. Part of him cared a bit but the other part couldn't care less what she had to say. He was still going to do what he had intended to do from the very beginning whether she is going to help or not.

"Alright slugo, I'll bite; why not?" Ridley said with a disappointed look written on his face. He knew what she was going to say would be something stupid and mundane. Probably something like protocol or being moral, words that Ridley never really cared much for. Ellipsis on the other side knew what was coming next. She had seen this before with Ridley and Io. It wouldn't be long now before one of them started to throw punches at each other. Though this is a different universe they are still very many things that are the same. Ellipsis took a few steps back and looked at Io, waiting for a response. Io looked pretty calm but if anyone knew anything about Io, it was that she was never really the calm type regardless of what universe you were in. There was something itching at the back of her head. She was locked in a confrontation of some kind. She knew she had a job to perform and to carry it out but there was something also that was bothering her; something else that took up priority. But the real question was, was she going to let that get the best of her?

"The entire space ship is on lockdown. All sections are sealed off from one another to prevent the spread of infection. No one is going anywhere." Io said. Ridley looked at her and rolled his eyes.

"Good for you. You locked down the whole area. Like I care, I'm still getting out of here." Ridley said as he turned around and started to walk. Io glared at Ridley and rushed at him. Ellipsis saw it happen in a flash. Io grabbed Ridley's shoulder and threw him against the wall. He let out a groan as he was smashed up against the wall. Io shoved her metal arm under his chin and held him up against the wall.

"I said no is going to leave." Io said with fire in her eyes. She was getting frustrated. Ellipsis was left in shock and awe. Ridley somehow still had that grin on his face. Xeth just stood there in the background. For him things were getting interesting.

"I will not be held responsible if the containment is breached and others suffer." Io said as she pressed harder against Ridley's throat. Ridley let out a choking gasping sound as he tried to take a breath.

"Io cut it out!" Ellipsis called out to Io. There was a hint of worry in Ellipsis's voice. Io eased up on Ridley and turned towards Ellipsis.

"You don't get it. We don't know if this thing has spread all throughout the ship or not. The only safe way to ensure the survival of others is total lockdown. No one leaves, ever." Io said inflexibly. Ridley gave a small laugh.

"Great idea iron fist. Seal us up like sardines and watch us slowly die. God I hate selfless martyrs." Ridley said as he leaned against the wall wearing a grin. Io glared at Ridley, she looked like she was ready to knock his teeth out.

"Whoa, easy there Io. Just take a moment and let's think this over." Ellipsis said as she stepped in front of Io. The look of fiery in Io's eyes dimmed as Ellipsis stepped into view.

"She's not being a martyr; she's concerned about her wife." Xeth said in the background. Everyone turned to Xeth in surprise. Then they looked back at Io who at this point lost all signs of frustration and had it replaced with embarrassment. A veil of silence suddenly covered the area. Her face was flushed like a red rose. Io looked away with shame and disgrace on her face. The line had started to fade and crack.

"It speaks, oh speak again great angel." Ridley said in a thespian tone as he waved his hand in the air.

"Io…?" Ellipsis said inquisitively. Io kept silent for a moment. It seemed she was lost in her own world. Io then reached into her pocket and pulled out a plastic card and tossed it towards Ridley. It was her security card. Ridley picked it up swiftly.

"Thanks iron fist." Ridley said as he turned around and started to head towards the metal doors at the end of the hallway. Xeth accompanied Ridley as he walked to the doors. Things here were pretty much over here and he was starting to get bored. Ellipsis was the only one left behind with Io. Io remained motionless and continued to stare at the wall. As soon as the doors closed it was once again silent.

"Io…?" Ellipsis said again. It was obvious that she was concerned about Io. Io did not move a muscle.

"You said you know Jane right? Tell me, what is she like, the Jane you know?" Io said with a sigh. Ellipsis blinked and stood in silence. Io looked deep in thought. She crossed her arms and leaned against the wall with her back still facing Ellipsis. The line had cracked and was starting to shatter.

"Well, I don't know too much about her. She told me a while back that she read a lot of books and studied to be a doctor. And on the trips we took she would always sit in front of the bus with a book or two. Every now and then she would glace at what the rest were doing and roll her eyes and continue to read…" Ellipsis said right before Io interrupted her with a laugh that only grew louder.

"Yeah that sounds like Janney. Always with her nose in the books, always watching and judging." Io said with a smile. She quickly fell into silence once again. Ellipsis gave a quiet but nervous laugh. She was slightly confused. Io was still standing there.

"So tell me, are Janney and I a thing? Like are we together? The ones you know." Io said nervously. There was a slight stutter in her voice. Ellipsis finally got the hint. There was a pause.

"Not that I am aware of. You seem to make sure everyone is okay and Jane pretty much keeps to herself." Ellipsis said confusedly. She was still unsure where Io was going with this. There was another brief pause of silence.

"I see…You know…uh, Ellipsis…We try to keep everything about us separate from our work. I…I'm not sure how to express what I am feeling right now…Jane would know. She always does." Io said nervously with a small chuckle. She was stuttering more now with her words. It appeared that she was about to cry but she was holding everything back. Ellipsis was stunned by the display. She had seen Io upset before but this was something new.

"I…I don't like to feel this way…I don't know what to do." Io said. Io had started to crouch down. Ellipsis knew right away what was going on in Io's head. She was worried about Jane and it was consuming her. Ellipsis walked slowly over to Io and rested her hand on her shoulder.

"Hey, come on now. If anything, Jane would figure out a way to avoid being hurt. Hell, she disguised herself as an elf and infiltrated an elven base. Zombies are nothing compared to that." Ellipsis said cheerfully. Her attempts at making Io feel better seemed to be working as Io turned her head slightly to see Ellipsis's hand. Io gave a slight nod in agreement. She still looked like there was a void in her eyes like she was somewhere else. Io then slowly stood up and looked at Ellipsis. Her face was still wrapped in guilt and sweat but still managed to crack a smile. The line was gone by this point. The two walked through the unlocked doors.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

As Io and Ellipsis made their way through the doors, they were suddenly met with a surprise. The air around them was thick and heavy. Wild vegetation of all sorts of blues, greens, and purples stretched across the floor and up the walls. There was a low buzzing sound as the insects scatter at the presence of the two. It was as if they had stepped into another world. A thin layer of green and blue moss covered the emergency lights. Moving through this proved to be difficult as there were tree trunks and thick branches that blocked the path. Io and Ellipsis gave in wonder and silent as they marched carefully though the rough terrain. At the end of the hallway several bodies were tangled in the vegetation. Their carcasses hung from the ventilation shaft and slowly moved back and forth as if they were meant to give a warning. The two remained in silence the entire time.

Through the doors the room opened up into a wild jungle with trees the stretched high to the ceiling, bearing wild pink fruit with yellow stripes. The water reserve that flowed underneath became a running river. Ellipsis and Io ceased in their movements.

"Was this here before you left to go find me?" Ellipsis said as she gawked at the sight of the trees.

"No…" Io said as she shook her head. Everything had a wild feeling to it. Suddenly there was movement. Ellipsis and Io turned to where they heard the sound. The floor, once metal and now covered in a layer of grass, only rustled gently as the air from the vents blew into the large jungle. It soon got quiet. Ellipsis and Io tensed up as they continued to march through. They knew that they were being followed and kept a close eye out for any other movements.

The entire lobby had been consumed by plant life. What was once a bleached area with some furniture and a water reservoir flowing underneath it has now become unrecognizable. Ellipsis and Io made their way to what they believed was to be the elevator but were soon disappointed when they both realized that the entire elevator had collapse and sprouted giant wild pink and yellow mushrooms. Then the room suddenly got cold and dim. Ellipsis froze with fright. Io stood by confused. Both of them sensed a feeling of dread. Io could feel her heart race as she was ready to fight whatever it was. But only silence greeted the two for the moment. And yet they couldn't shake the fear of being watched.

As they continued to wander around the lobby a light shined at them from the ground. Io was the first one to notice the shining light and informed Ellipsis about it. Upon investigating they discovered that the light came from what looked like a radio. It had all the buttons and knobs that a radio would have but it also have some weird liquid goo that oozed out of it. The light started to flicker and suddenly a voice came through.

"And to think…I would never see your face again. You're certainly a hard one to kill." The voice called out. It was loud and as clear as day. Ellipsis recognized the voice right away and suddenly a cold shiver ran up her spine. It was Joffrey. Io immediately grabbed the mic that was sitting next to radio. Before she spoke she looked at Ellipsis who by this point was wrapped in fear.

"This is Io, head of security. To whom am I talking to, over?" Io said in the calmest and sternest voice possible. Ellipsis was impressed. This has been really the first time Io actually acted like a real cop instead of some brawler.

"Ah yes, finally a proper authority figure. My name is Captain Joffrey Winslin and I am the commander of the 22nd Nocturne Brigade. We have taken over the area and would now wish to speak to you on terms of your surrender." Joffrey said without hesitation. Io blinked a few times. The word 'surrender' echoed around in her head for a moment. Soon the grasp she had on the microphone tightened. She had the misfortune of holding the mic with her robotic arm. Ellipsis watched in amazement as Io stayed calmed on the outside; but on the inside Io was screaming. Io carefully held lifted the microphone to her lips.

"No…No surrender…Not here…Not ever." Io said as her hand trembled with fear. The words she spoke rang true to her but she feared of the consequences. She knew that she let her pride get in the way now as it always has been in the past. Ellipsis was not surprised at her answer. Ellipsis was just expecting more of a boastful answer along with a 'Go fuck yourself' to end it. There was a brief moment of silence as the sweat of regret started to drip down Io's nose. The rustling of the grass broke the silence and in that moment both of them jumped.

"I do apologize that it has to come down to this. I was trusting for a more civilized outcome. Good day to you Io, head of security. It has been a real pleasure. Before I forget; a message to you Ellipsis. I will see you soon. A warrior knows how to survive." Joffrey said before the radio turned off. The light flickered once more and burnt out. The smell of Sulphur and burnt metal filled the air.

The rustling sound suddenly grew louder. A chill ran down Ellipsis's spine, she knew what was going to happen; she'd seen it before and it still haunted the darkest parts of her dreams. Ellipsis and Io quickly looked around them only to see parts of the trees and the ground start to shift. Ellipsis wrapped the shotgun in her makeshift sling and pulled out the axe. Both of them jumped up as several bony hands reached for them from the floor. A horrific moaning sound came from the ground as a terrible screeching noise burst out from the trees. Bodies that were hidden among the moss started to crawl their way up from the ground. They were coated in a blanket of green moss and their skin was gray and metallic leather. Blacken eyes stared at Ellipsis and Io. Insects scattered out of their eye sockets and ears. Skeleton corpuses gave out a high pitch screech as they emerged from the walls, staggering with red fury in their eyes. It was an awaken nightmare.

From the tree ruptured forth a creature with hellish red eyes. It was covered from the bark of the tree with strips of green and blue moss dangling from its joints. It sported long sharp black claws from its hands and feet. Its eyes lit up with a savage fury while bearing its dark fangs protruding from its mouth; dark purple goo oozed from its fangs and coated its claws and scattered on the tree. The horrible screech was enough to frighten any man. Ellipsis could once again feel her heart race with fright. The once small aura of darkness and gloom she felt before while holding the Black Mirror suddenly was all around her. Io said nothing; she only pivoted and with a single throw, smashed the first corpus to bits. The bodies slumped forward. Ellipsis whipped the axe around and started hacking at the bodies around her. The screech from the creature above them grew louder as it flew through the air.

As Io and Ellipsis fought, they slowly backed up to the large tree that grew out of the elevator. Sweat and fear dripped down from Ellipsis's forehead as she felt the base of the tree meet her spine. They were surrounded. The horde of undead creatures intimidated Io and Ellipsis, as it seemed endless.

"Up!" Ellipsis shouted at Io. Both gave their last push against the mob and quickly turned to climb the tree. They heard the screech once again. They both looked up and saw the imp creature fly at them, with its claws bearing it swiped at Ellipsis and Io. Up they climbed. The mob below them clawed at the tree, attempting to climb but showed no signs of progress. The imp flew back at them, this time aiming directly at Ellipsis. Ellipsis braced for impact as the imp landed right on her tearing away at her flesh. Ellipsis let out a blood curling scream as the imp slashed and clawed at her. Pain surged through her body as blood trickled down her back, but her grip remained firmed on the tree. The imp let out a holler as Io grabbed it from behind and yanked it off Ellipsis. The imp took off and flew away. Ellipsis had several gashes and claw marks up and down her spine. Her mouth was wide open but no sounds could be heard. Tears flowed down her cheek as she pulled herself up and continued to climb. Arms shaking, knees weakening, fingers cramping and blood dripping down Ellipsis spine; she pressed on. Io and Ellipsis continued their climb. Then the screeching was heard once again. Ellipsis froze with fright and quickly looked behind her. It was the imp flying right at her once more.

Ellipsis's mind went blank. She tightens her grip once more, ready for another attack. Io had a different plan. With a hard thrust, Io punched the tree with her robotic arm and locked herself in place. Io reached for the shotgun that Ellipsis had. Two large explosions echoed throughout the room following a horrific screech. The imp suddenly burst into flames as it reeled back from the force of the shotgun. Io dropped the shotgun in shock as her ears started to ring with pain. Io suddenly became dizzy and lightheaded. She did not expect the recoil or the ear shattering sound. The imp spiraled to its death as it crashed into the mob below. Smoke rose and the fires started to spread below. Ellipsis breathed a sigh of relief as she hoisted herself once more up the tree. Io had a bit of trouble unlock her arm from the tree but was soon right behind her. As the black thick smoke rose high into the ceiling the sprinklers suddenly turned on and in a flash it was raining.

The grounded started to quake. Ellipsis and Io didn't cease to find out what was going on down below. The floor had shifted once more but then suddenly collapsed. Parts of the mob broke away as the floor gave away, revealing several hundred little yellow eyes from the shadows below. A deep loud moan was heard from the darkness below. Quickly Ellipsis and Io dashed the last few feet and pulled themselves up to the second floor. Ellipsis collapse on the floor, blood was still dripping from her back. Her face started to look pale and she started to shiver. Her mind blanked for a moment and she thought to herself, _'So this is what Death's embrace feels like.'_

Io gazed at Ellipsis with concern on her face. Ellipsis's blank stare filled Io with frustration and melancholy. The sound of water pouring from the sprinklers masked the sounds from below. Suddenly a dark figure appeared before them. Cloaked in shadow the phantom reached out with its hands and grabbed Io's and with a gentle tug hoisted Io up. Io was in a state of shock, she didn't know what to do. Her immediate reaction was to pull herself away from the shadowy figure. The phantom motioned over and pointed to a door. Io looked around, there was no one else around but that would soon end. Io picked up Ellipsis and followed the figure. Ellipsis's vision started to get all hazy. She couldn't tell what was happening. One minute it was cold, dark and wet but then she was in a room full of bright light and warmth.

Ellipsis continued to stare off into the distance as Io placed her on a table. The room was surprisingly clean. There were no signs of plant growth or any other kind of disturbance. The sound of the door closing and locking gave Io a sense of relief and safety. The figure moved around the room swiftly, digging through drawers and shelves and picking up supplies. The figure moved back to where Io had place Ellipsis on the table and pulled out a syringe and a small vial of clear liquid. Io reached for the syringe quickly as it came to light.

"Whoa, wait! What are you doing?" Io shouted out as she held the syringe in her hand.

"You always were so headstrong." The phantom said in a raspy voice as they snatched the syringe from Io. The phantom figure then injected Ellipsis with the clear liquid from the small vial and then rolled Ellipsis on her stomach. With cotton balls and some water, the phantoms cleaned Ellipsis's back wounds and bandage them up. Ellipsis soon stopped shivering afterwards. Her face became less pale and then she fell asleep.

Io sat down in a chair and glared at the figure with intense curiosity. The phantom figure suddenly sat down on a chair near Io and pulled back the hood. Underneath was a thick black gasmask. The phantom then removed the gasmask. The revealing of the mysterious figure put Io in a warm soft spot. It was Jane.

"Jane!" Io said as she leaped up from her chair and hustled over to embrace her. It was a few seconds later that Io realized what was going on and suddenly took a few steps back. The line between them suddenly burst into existence. The line that Io had in the heat of the moment forgot that was there.

"I'm sorry Mrs. Parker. It's good to see you are alive and well." Io said in a very stern voice. It is as though all emotion had suddenly drained from her. Jane looked at her and slowly stood up. She approached Io without saying a single word and embraced her with a passionate kiss. Io staggered for a moment as she was not expecting this.

"Forget what we said." Jane said with a smile. Io smiled back and suddenly the line between them had finally shattered. There was no line now between them. In the dark of the night, they were the light that shinned. They embraced each other once more, this time with more feeling; as if the end was soon approaching. Passions soared into the air as clothes fell off. Emotions ran high. The last time they made love with such electric livewire intensity was on the first night they met. It was the feeling of comfort that they both needed in that moment. Together they felt like they could overcome anything. And in that moment, the world outside the door suddenly vanished.

An hour had passed, maybe two. Io and Jane were still cuddling next to each other. Then there came a stir from the table. Both Jane and Io leaped about and moved over to see Ellipsis slowly opening her eyes.

"How…long?" Ellipsis said in a very quiet voice.

"Uh…two hour's maybe. I don't know." Io said as she scratched her head. Ellipsis gave a blank stare at Io and Jane.

"Clothes…" Ellipsis said nonchalantly. Suddenly Jane and Io realized their current condition and quickly moved to cover themselves. Ellipsis let out a small chuckle to herself. Io and Jane returned back covered in sheets and a lab coat. Ellipsis tried to push herself up but couldn't and in seconds she was back lying down on the table.

"Um, yeah you shouldn't try to move for a bit. The serum still needs some time to replace the lost blood and repair the tissue damage to your back. Its main function is to speed up the recovery system in the human body. I'm actually surprised you've woken up this early. Most patients don't open their eyes for at least four hours." Jane said as she examined Ellipsis's face. Ellipsis gave a low grunt as she tried again to hoist herself up, this time she sat up. Perspiration started to form on her forehead. The pain was still present up and down her back. It was as if her spine was on fire. Jane was surprised.

"Alright, you can sit up. So on a scale of one to ten, how is your pain." Jane asked curiously. Jane wasn't a medical doctor but she did have basic training aboard the space station in case of accidents.

"Twelve." Ellipsis said as she took a deep breath. Sweat started to drip down her face.

"Okay, you need to sit back down." Jane said as she placed her hands on Ellipsis's shoulders and slowly pushed her back down on the table. Ellipsis didn't struggle against Jane's gentle push but cried out in pain as her back touched the table and then quickly rolled over on her stomach.

"You got to admire her fighting spirit." Io said as she leaned against the wall, crossing her arms. Jane looked back and smiled.

"Something I'm sure the two of you have in common." Jane said as she gathered the left over supplies and went to put them away in their proper places. Ellipsis laid there on table, fists clench. That little bit of contact from the table made the pain much worse for her.

Prior to the crisis Jane was worried that she'd never see Io again. When the alarms went off, Jane sealed herself in the nearest room she could find. She made sure that the door was locked and the vents were sealed. She knew how to switch on the emergency power and air in the room and created her own panic room. For a while she sat alone, wondering, fearing, doubting; doubting that she would ever see Io ever again. The thought itself was terrifying. Seeing Io here and now gave her a sense of relief and comfort despite being in a locked room. She reflected on the moment and decided if this was how her life was going to end, it wouldn't be so bad. Despite the situation and Ellipsis condition it suddenly occurred to Jane that there were still a lot of unanswered questions that she was now more than ever eager to have them answered. She thought to herself that now maybe wasn't the best time. But she was ever more curious now about Ellipsis and her story.

A few more hours went by and the sounds outside soon grew louder over time. The sound of clawing and moaning seemed like they were right outside the door. By this time Ellipsis's pain seemed to have subsided significantly as she was able to sit up without gritting her teeth. Io and Jane took the time to get properly dress and search throughout the room for more supplies. Jane explained that she was able to seal off the room and switch to the emergency power. It was at this time Jane turned to Ellipsis.

"So…uh…Ellipsis, tell me about yourself." Jane said with curiosity in her tone. Ellipsis looked at Jane with surprise in her eyes. This was defiantly not something she expected at a time like this. It had only been a few hours since Ellipsis and Io met up with Jane and only an hour since Ellipsis was able to sit up without feeling an intense amount of pain. Ellipsis looked away, as if deep in thought. She tried to look back at her life, at the time she had spent. Most of it has faded over time. Some parts, some wonderful parts, she still remembered but they were fragmented memories of what they were. Jane was still waiting for an answer and even now Io got curious. Ellipsis remained quiet for a moment. Then she remembered.

"I grew up in a small village a very long time ago. I forget my actual birth date. I was told it was somewhere in the spring. My father was a mason and my mother was a druid priestess." Ellipsis began. Ellipsis took a moment to pause. Jane and Io were still paying attention, listening in silence.

"I was a young lass in our Chieftain's manor. I was tasked with maintaining the building and serving our Chief. It was something to be proud of at the time. I got to know the family there really well, especially our Chief's daughter, Allea. She was a fine lass." Ellipsis continued. What Ellipsis wasn't aware of in that moment but that Jane and Io picked up on right away was the change in her accent. It had a more Scottish tone than it originally had. Ellipsis continued.

"Allea had a unique gift, and I've only seen it in a few other people around 'ere. She had the ability to 'err. How would I describe such a thing? She possessed magical abilities. Just like her mother before her, she could do such fantastic things. When we were young, she took me on a walk one time and showed me. She made the water rise up from the pond and dance. It was the most extraordinary thing I 'ave ever seen. Then one day, I was told of a ritual that was going to happen. It was to be an ascendance, as I was told. Allea was to be sacrificed during that ritual as her mother before her. I couldn't let that happen. We had become so close then. It also didn't 'elp that she was with child. So the plan was for her to escape. What I remember I didn't tell her was that I was gonna be the one to replace her. Seemed like a good idea at the time." Ellipsis said with a chuckle. A smile came to her face and her eyes lit up. But that soon faded as she continued.

"That was when everything had changed for me. That night I was taken away from this world and thrown into a nightmare. That night I died. And then I came back. I became a hungry, savage creature. Nothing that I 'ave ever heard of, nothing that has ever been seen. That was when I learned what a vampire was. I was taken back to this world. I was placed under a curse of some kind. I was to rule over the providence as a representative of the Umbral Sphere. I was crowned queen then. Twenty years I ruled, twenty long years. Every day was a nightmare. But then…one day…it ended. I saw my old friend come back and she put a dagger in my back. After that I finally died again. It was peaceful. It was everything I had ever wanted in that moment." Ellipsis said with tears in her eyes. Jane and Io at this point were stunned by what has been said. Whether it was true or not, they didn't know. But they remained silent and continued to listen patiently.

"After that I really don't know what happened next. Before I knew it I was thrusted back 'ere. I remember waking up next to a river. It was night and the sky was clear. I saw the stars and the moon shinned down on me. It was then I noticed I had strange markings all over my body. I didn't know at the time, I thought they were just designs but it wasn't. It was a contract in a strange language. Anyway, I didn't know what had happened. I wandered through the night and ended up at a strange village. It was certainly well built and they people seemed friendly and so I stayed. The sunlight didn't seem to bother me as it used to, so I thought I was human again. I got married there and had five beautiful children. I forget their names sadly. But they were wonderful. But then I noticed something. Over time, my husband and children aged but I didn't. They grew older and I remained the same. After my husband passed, my eldest son accused me of being a witch. It wasn't long before my other children started to hate me and then the whole village. So I left and never came back. I learned afterward that though I was back I was still an undead fiend. I don't know what happened to my children. I like to think they all grew up strong and well, that they had children of their own. I can't blame 'em for what they did. I would 'ave done the same. After that it all gets hazy. I traveled to a few places, met more people, fought against the Romans for a bit till that was done and over. I just wandered the world aimlessly. Ended up in the States and spent a few hundred years there. Then I met some interesting people. Samantha and Io were the first set; then came you Jane and then Nyssia." Ellipsis said with the same smile returning to her face.

"And after that it was one adventure after the next. I died again, sort of. Got shoved into a large container of acid, melted me down to my bones then I regenerated. The only time that ever happened before was when I was burnt at the stake in England. Funny thing with regeneration, sometimes you lose memories and sometimes you recall some. After that escapade I met Ridley. Interesting fellow I must say. Then we went back to the Umbral Sphere to find you Jane and Samantha. It was there I was given a chance to go back in time and change the events of that night. And so I did, I went back and I armed myself with a sword. Everything else pretty much played out as it happened but as soon as I stepped through that gateway to the Umbral Sphere I killed everything that stood in my way. Monsters and hordes of undead fell underneath my sword. Until I was finally captured, I don't know why they kept me alive; probably as a prize or something. But it was from there that I appeared here. Memory is still hazy as to how I got here; I passed out from the cold along the way." Ellipsis said. Io and Jane sat for a moment in bafflement. This was the first time they ever heard of anything of this sort.

"Wow." Io said in amazement. Jane looked at Ellipsis with shock.

Moments later came loud explosions from outside. The moaning suddenly grew louder and sounded fiercer as the explosions got closer. Io jumped and prepared herself for a fight. Ellipsis spun around to the opposite side of the table in a very stiff movement. Jane looked around for a weapon of some kind to defend herself with. Seconds later the explosions ceased and so did all sounds outside. It was quiet. It was an eerie quiet. Fear crept up Io's, Jane's and Ellipsis's spine. And then, the strangest thing happened. A quiet knock came from the door. Tap, tap, tap, it went. They each looked at one another with confusion. The tapping came again and was soon followed with a very loud kick. Voices could be heard outside the door. Though the words were unclear it sounded like an argument.

Suddenly tensions rose as a clicking sound came from the door. Io readied herself to charge in and punch the first thing that appeared. More sounds of clicking came as the door was slowly unlocked. The door opened slightly, warm air crept underneath and into the room. Footsteps could be heard. Fear crept down Jane and Io's spine as the suspense prolonged. Ellipsis was calm, she suspected something was off. It did not give off the feel of impending doom; rather it didn't give off anything at all, almost as if it wasn't even there.

The doors suddenly flew open with a rush and a gust of warm air flowed in like a river. Step out from the shadows was a face not many thought they would see again. It was Ridley and to no surprise from Ellipsis, he had a cigar in his mouth and a pistol in his hand. Strapped across his chest appeared to be homemade grenades. He was covered in sod and he reeked of gunpowder. Behind him was Xeth, quiet a still as ever. Io reacted too quickly and rushed in to punch Ridley. Ridley saw this coming and simply sidestepped Io as she flew herself into the nearest wall with a thud and crashed on the ground.

"Greetings to you all, I come bearing gifts, Merry Christmas!" Ridley said with a grin on his face and his arms opened wide. On his back he revealed a large sack of assorted goods. "Honestly there are some of you I didn't expect to survive." Ridley said as he walked in. He was sounding more arrogant than ever. He looked back at Io as she picked herself back up. "I expected old tin-hands here to fall to pieces with the first wave. Guess I was wrong." Ridley said as he walked further into the room, eyes scanning everyone in the room.

"Now you I'm interested as to how you survived. But no matter, even a blind squirrel finds an acorn." Ridley said as he looked away. Then he suddenly looked at Ellipsis. His grin turned into a smile, a sort of mocking smile stretched across his face. He seemed rather amused.

"And you said you were not up for another adventure. Well the Fates have decided upon something else so it seems. Good to see you alive there, old soldier." Ridley said as he gave Ellipsis a salute. "Now let's begin." Ridley said as he pulled the sack off his back and started to rummage through it. What he pulled out of the sack as a long sword that had a unique and ancient text carved onto its blade. "Ellipsis, here you go. You might recognize it. It's the same blade you used to kill off the undead army a few thousand years ago." Ridley said as he presented the sword to Ellipsis. Ellipsis took the sword in her hand. It was the same sword she took from the armory back in her village; the same blade, the same hilt, everything. There was a look of confusion on her face as she didn't know how Ridley was able to attain it but here it was. It even had the old language inscribed on the blade.

Jane and Io were astounded at the sight. Ridley turned with a smile and walked towards Jane.

"Now for you bookworm I have this!" Ridley said as he pulled out a small revolver from his bag. "Whether or not you use it will be decided later." Ridley said as he walked away from Jane and over to Io. Jane held the pistol in her left hand and looked awkward holding it. Her face brings to mind the look of disgust as if someone handed her a rotten banana. Ellipsis was just reminded of the first time she handed Samantha a pistol. Jane looked just as awkward and confused as Samantha did. Io was interested as to what Ridley could offer her. Ridley walked up to her and looked directly at her metal arm and then back at her. "Well tin-hands I was gonna offer you something you can fight with but I see you are already well armed. So I give you this." Ridley said as he pulled out a brown bottle. "It is ale, something us pre-dawns absolutely love." Ridley said in a sarcastic tone followed by a small laugh. Io held the bottle in her hand and was as confused as the rest of them. Ridley stood in front of the door way and faced the group.

"So what's next? I assume that if we are going to live we might as well stick together." Ridley said as he clapped his hands together. Everyone fell silent. They were each confused in their own special way. Suddenly the silence was broken.

"Where did you get this?" Ellipsis said as she held the sword in her hand. The blade shinned in the light. Ridley's eyes widen with pride.

"Ah, yes your sword. Well funny story, I was walking around in some laboratory looking for whatever I could find, when I happen to stumble upon your sword labeled 'evidence'. So naturally I ignored those funny little words and decided to take it. Either you were alive and could make use of it or you were dead and I could sell it. Either way it was a win-win for me. "Ridley said with a smile. Ellipsis shook her head in confusion.

"Alright, fine. But how, why, what's it doing here?" Ellipsis said as she lowered the sword. Ridley said nothing, only gave her a small shrug. He turned his attention to Jane who seemed to have an answer. Io took a moment to examine the strange brown bottle.

"Apparently, when you crossed over to this world from wherever you came from the Umbral Sphere, the sword came with you sort to say. It smashed through the observatory glass, killing one of our scientists." Jane declared as she brought her eyes with remorse. What none of the others knew, except for maybe Io, was that at time of the experiments that led to Ellipsis and Ridley's sudden arrival; Jane was in the observatory with Dr. Bronsworth. When the wave of black ice spewed forth from the Black Mirror, among the two bodies, the sword gave off a shine to it. No one knew for sure what it was and before them knew it; the sword was thrusted through the glass dome, through the observatory window and impaled Dr. Bronsworth through the chest.

"And I thought I had bad luck." Ridley said as he folded his arms and turned away. Suddenly from the depth of the darkness came a loud unsettling roar. Ridley's eyes grew wide with fright and soon he closed and locked the door, leaving Xeth outside, and moved away from the door to the other side of the room next to Ellipsis.

"Care to share what that was." Ellipsis said as she glared at Ridley. Io jumped back into her fighting stance. Jane took a few steps back away from the door. She felt safer away from the unknown roar.

"Oh well that's absolutely nothing to worry about….Until you step outside that door." Ridley said as he pointed towards the door. He wore a smile on his face but it was obvious he was forcing himself not to openly panic. He pulled out some bullets out of his pockets and began to reload his revolver nervously. Ellipsis continued her glare at Ridley.

"Ridley….What did you do?" Ellipsis said in a very disappointed tone. At this point Ellipsis had lost her old accent. Ridley continued to keep his eyes at the door. He was nervous to say anything. He knew exactly what he had done but at the time he didn't think of it.

"I may have angered a huge demonic plant monster that has seemed to have nested on the bottom floor of the lobby." Ridley said with a quiet nervous laugh. A few more bullets were loaded into his revolver. The empty shells rolled on the floor without direction or meaning. Ellipsis stared at Ridley only to roll her eyes.

"Great, so there's a giant plant monster; just waiting outside for us. And you pissed it off. Do you even have an idea on how to fix this?" Ellipsis said in a sarcastic tone. She was starting to get a little agitated. It wasn't enough having to climb a tree to avoid a horde of undead or fight off a demonic tree imp, but now the situation has grown to a new level; a level that, possibly, could have been avoided. Ridley gave a wild grin at Ellipsis and placed his pistol in his pocket. He then proceeded to unstrap the explosives that he had around him and placed them on the table. Ellipsis knew what he was thinking. The only thing that went through Io's head when she saw the explosives was the possibility of breaching a hole in the ship. Jane on the other hand looked at the explosives, looked at Ridley with complete disgust.

"Are you serious!?" Jane shouted at Ridley. Jane had done everything she could in the past to remain calm and think things through carefully, but this was something unexpected, something random and destructive that she didn't want to happen. Ellipsis was running the numbers in her head, she knew this was a good plan and would work. Only problem would be getting the explosives close enough to have a real effect.

' _If only Nyssia were here.'_ Ellipsis thought to herself.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Io stepped in.

"Whoa wait, you can't detonate explosives here! It can tear the space station apart!" Io shouted as she glanced at the explosives and quickly looked up at Ridley. Ridley gave Io a smug looked.

"Got a better plan there tin-hands?" Ridley said as he folded his arms. Ellipsis stayed quiet during this confrontation. It kind of reminded her of the old Ridley and Io and with that she reflected on those memories with a smile, but something dark came up to her in that moment. _'Where are they right now?'_ Ellipsis thought to herself.

"I propose that we take refuge in one of the escape pods." Jane suggested. It seemed like the most logical solution next to explosives going off in a space station. Ridley slowly turned his head towards Jane, maintaining the smug look.

"And where do you suppose we go from there?" Ridley said in a condescending tone. He was intrigued at where this was going but he was a little disappointed since it didn't seem like he was going to be able to use his explosives.

"Earth…" Ellipsis chimed in. Io and Jane gave her an odd look and then they looked at each other with concern on their faces. Ridley looked at her and his smug looked changed to a more positive look as he put his arms down.

"Alright, that sounds good." Ridley said as he started to put the explosives back around his chest. Io stood up.

"We can't go to Earth. It's not safe for us there." Io said as she looked at Jane and then at the rest of the group. There was a bit of a pause as both Ellipsis and Ridley turned towards Io and Jane.

"What do you mean by 'not safe'?" Ellipsis said with a concern look on her face.

"Well a long time ago, the Earth fell into a state of panic. Wars broke out between multiple nations and the end result was a nuclear holocaust. Many of the people took refuge in spaceships. Their priority was to leave the Earth and never come back." Jane said. Ellipsis and Ridley's eyes widen with surprise.

"Wow, you guys really fucked up didn't you?" Ridley said with shock in his eyes. There was another moment of silence. Ellipsis was captivated at what had happened to the planet and couldn't help but feel guilty that this was somehow her fault. Five thousand years changed dramatically for not only her friends but the rest of the world. The group had evaluated in on their options while they sat in silence. Ellipsis gave a sigh.

"Well I'd rather take my chances in a nuclear wasteland than on a crippling space station with the gate of the Umbral Sphere next door." Ellipsis said as she looked at everyone with a determine look. Jane and Io looked at each other for a moment and shrugged. Ridley looked back at Ellipsis, Io and Jane; anticipating a response. It wasn't an easy choice for Io or Jane. None of them have been to Earth at all. Reports would come in every now and then and told them of the radiation levels in certain areas but no signs of life. If they were to go down to the planet it would be a different experience for them. Both have lived on the space station their whole lives. They have never touched the surface of another planet before. Jane was the most hesitate out of the two. Io looked upon the situation with not only fear but also with a bit of curiosity. As they sat in silence Ridley decided to be the one to speak up.

"Well chop, chop eh; time to get a move on. No time for second guessing here eh?" Ridley said as he started to head towards the door. He suddenly paused and turned around. Jane and Io were still contemplating, while Ellipsis seemed ready as she started to give the sword a few practice swings.

"We're really doing this?" Jane said with some concern. She was still unsure about the whole plan. Ridley looked at her for a moment with slight frustration and yet understood where she was coming from. It's a scary thing going to a whole new world. Ridley remembered his first time being tossed into a new planet with new species. It wasn't easy for him. Ridley turned back and walked towards Jane. Io sensed something was up and quickly stood up to protect her. Ridley stopped and looked at her and then back at Jane.

"Look, I get it. It's not an easy choice. But in the end would you rather die up here or down there?" Ridley said. It was obvious he was trying to comfort her but the thought of death one way or another didn't strike Jane as a positive note. Jane soon stood up.

"Well, I suppose we don't really have much of a choice in the matter now do we?" Jane said in calm and authoritarian voice. It appeared for a moment she managed to conjure some level of confidence despite the odds. Both Ridley and Io were surprised at Jane's sudden change. One minute she seemed to be lost in thought and the next she was up and ready to go. Jane took a hold of the pistol in her right hand and inspected it before looking back at Ridley.

"Alright, we can get to the escape pod through the lobby outside, through the far left corridor, passed the emergency exit near the library." Jane said in a very calm voice. Ridley looked at Io and Ellipsis and then back to Jane, a wicked smile stretched across his face. As they gathered their supplies and prepare themselves to head out there suddenly came a huge roar. Chills ran down everyone's spine and prior to that thought it was gonna be an easy trip out the door. Turns out it wasn't.

As the door lifted itself up, Xeth was still standing right in front of the doorway. A few marmalits were crawling around him. He didn't seem bothered by it nor did the marmalits. Io and Jane passed by him without even looking at them. Both Ridley and Ellipsis stopped and looked at Xeth with questionable looks.

"They can't see them, can they?" Ellipsis said as she shooed off the marmalits from Xeth. Ridley shook his head.

"Creatures of the Umbral Sphere cannot be so easily seen by people from the photonic sphere, unless they've been to the Umbral Sphere." Ridley said as moved passed Xeth. Ellipsis followed and Xeth followed behind her. The loud roar came once again. Io peeked over the ledge and into the darkness she was greeted by several yellow eyes that all seem to simultaneously look directly at her. Suddenly large green tentacles covered in yellow spikes shot up into the air and attempted to grab Io. Io jumped back in time as the tentacle swiped at her. More unusual sounds came from all around them. Out of the furthest corridors came creatures with hellish red eyes. They had horns protruding from their heads and their backs. Some had tails while other did not. They were carrying weapons and charging at the party. Some had swords while others carried large clubs and shields. The tentacles made another swiped and smashed into the ground. The creatures got closer.

Ridley acted first and pulled out two pistols and started firing at the creatures that were quickly approaching. Some of the creatures were hit and fell while others were hit and continued to move forward. Ellipsis moved forward, gripping the sword she prepared herself. Jane lifted the pistol in her hand and fired. The sound of the bullet bouncing off in the distance echoed through everyone's ears.

Ridley knew what kind of creatures these were; he fought them before in the Umbral Sphere near the Visconeian Mountains. He continued to fire as the creatures got closer. Shots echoed all around them. The swarm was met with Io and Ellipsis carving their way through them. Io quickly punched and threw some off the ledge while Ellipsis took her sword and made quick clean cuts through the mob. Black blood painted the floor. Many creatures gave out a holler as they were either stabbed in the chest or tossed off the ledge. As the fighting went on the creature down below would raise its tentacle again and swiped at the group. Io got knocked back and then took a club to her face. Io shrugged it off; the pain only made her angry, as she hoisted a creature above her head and threw them at the creature down below.

Ellipsis started to get winded as the creatures continue to attack her with their weapons and block her attacks. At one point a creature with a great long black sword pinned Ellipsis to the wall only to be shot in the back of the head by Ridley. Jane continued to stay in the back and at one point panic and shot at Ridley. The bullet skimmed his shoulder and he let out a hollering scream. Ridley clutched his shoulder in pain as blood seeped through his fingers. The tentacle came up once more and slammed into the ground, breaking off a chunk. The ground below the group shook with great intensity. Sounds of concrete breaking could be heard from beneath them. As the floor began to give way the group tried to grab hold of whatever they had around them.

Io clamped down her robotic hand on the ledge just in time as the floor beneath her disappeared. Dust and debris littered her face and her hair as she hung onto the ledge. Down below her she saw some of the creatures fall to the first floor and get buried beneath the ruble. Ellipsis backed herself off to the wall and was standing on a very narrow path as the floor crumbled. Sword still in hand, she continued to block several attacks. Ridley on the other hand was not as lucky as he griped his shoulder in pain; he fell with the floor and landed on the bottom floor. He dropped his pistols and got hit with fairly large chunks of debris. Ridley let out another loud scream as a large chunk landed on his right leg. Blood trickled from his shoulder, his leg and his head as he laid there on the floor.

"Ridley…!" Ellipsis shouted as she looked down and saw Ridley lie upon the floor. Ellipsis picked up her sword and thrusted it into another creature. As the creature let out a roar Ellipsis grabbed hold of the creature and pulled it down with her to the first floor. In the last moment she spins the creature around and landed on top of it suppressing the fall. The tentacles took another swipe, this time landed onto of Io's metal hand, breaking it off. Io let out a scream as she too fell to the first floor. Her robotic arm was torn from the hand up to her elbow. It was now useless. Jane looked on the scene with horror.

Jane was still on the second floor with a large gap between her and the rest of the horde who decided to taunt her. Jane made the decision to quickly make her way down slowly. Just as she approached the ledge the tentacle creature stretched out and grabbed a hold of Jane and lifted her up. Jane let out a blood curling scream as the tiny spikes dug inside of her. She could feel the tiny spikes dig right into her body and with each sway of the tentacle. She could feel it rip and tear inside of her. Io heard these screams and picked herself up and saw before her Jane fly across the open space, wrapped in the tentacle's barbed spikes. Io acted quickly and with one hand jumped from the ledge where the tentacle was coming from, grasped on and with one hand started to climb. As Io climbed up the tentacle with one hand, the creature suddenly noticed her and the tentacle began waving back and forth with speed. Jane continued to scream in pain as she felt the spikes move back and forth inside her.

All this going on Ellipsis moved over to where Ridley was. She could hear the taunting of the creatures from above her as they started to throw their clubs at her and Ridley. Ridley opened his eyes and looked at Ellipsis. He had a wicked smile on.

"On a scale of one to ten, how dead am I?" Ridley said in a calm voice. He was lying in a pool of his own blood. Ellipsis said nothing as she attempted to pick him up. A club came whizzing by and landed right next to them. Ridley grabbed a hold of the club and used it to hoist himself up. He was barely able to stand on his own. His cloak was torn and gone, his pistols were damaged. Ellipsis knew their chances of survival now. As she heard in the background Jane's screams, she looked at Ridley who was wobbling on a club. The future was looking bleak but Ridley still had a smile on his face. Ellipsis could not figure out why. Ridley started to move forward towards the hole in the ground where the creature laid. The air was foul and smelled of moldy sweat socks. Ellipsis reached out and grabbed a hold of him.

"Ridley, what are you doing?" Ellipsis asked with a bit on concern in her voice. Ridley turned to Ellipsis. He was still smiling but not with his usual wicked grin like he was up to something, no this was more of a kinder, gentler smile. It scared Ellipsis.

"Oh I'm just gonna go for a short walk. Maybe take a few pictures. See my sister." Ridley said as he stared out towards the giant hole in the ground. Ridley took a few more steps forward before turning back to Ellipsis. He reached out for her hand and held it.

"It's been fun kid. See ya around." Ridley told her as he looked deeply into her eyes. In a flash Ridley took off running. He was there for a moment and then he was gone. It all happened so fast. Ellipsis stopped for a moment and realized that he cupped something in her hands. She looked at the contents in her hand. One was the queen of hearts and the other was a grenade pin. Ellipsis's eyes suddenly widen as she dropped to the ground.

What happened next would be forever sketched into her memory. Ridley was there, he was smiling. Then he was gone; queen of hearts. Pin, realization. Suddenly Ellipsis felt the ground rumble and roar. A huge column of fire shot up into the air from the large hole. Chunks of large purple and green mush rained down and landed right in front of Ellipsis. There was a loud scream. The horde of creatures screeched out in terror and retreated to an unknown origin. The tentacles swayed back and forth. Jane was holding on to the spikes that were still in her. Io gripped with her hand as the tentacle finally collapsing to the ground.

Io jumped off just in time as the tentacle crashed onto the ground. Jane landed with a thud. She continued to scream out in pain. Io rushed up to her and pulled her out of the tentacles grasp. There were several small spikes jammed into her back, stomach and arms. Blood stained her while coat. Io lifted her up and held her as best as she could with one hand and a torn robotic arm. Io moved over to where Ellipsis was.

Ellipsis was now standing in front of the hole, thunderstruck. She could not comprehend what had just happened. She just stood there in silence. Ridley was gone. And that was it. Suddenly Io came into her view.

"Ellipsis….Come on, we got to keep moving." Io said as she was struggling to hold Jane up. Jane had her arms wrapped around Io's neck and was holding on as best as she could despite the spikes protruding from her arms, back and stomach. Ellipsis turned to Io with a blank face.

"Where is Ridley?" Io asked. Ellipsis said nothing. She just dropped the grenade pin at her feet. Io looked down at it with some confusion at first. And then it suddenly hit her and there was a look of terror on her face as she turned towards the smoldering tentacles. Ellipsis walked back and picked up her sword. There was nothing left for her here. A cloud of guilt hung over Ellipsis's head as she marched towards the escape pod hanger. Guided by Io and the partially conscience Jane, the group moved through the narrow corridors, slaying anything and everything in their path. Ellipsis didn't say anything during the encounters through the corridors; she just let out a scream with every swing of her sword. It got to a point where she would drop her sword and began punching the creatures in the face. Her fists were tainted in their black blood. It wasn't her screaming that scared Io and Jane. It was the silence that came from her when they were heading to the pod. For Ellipsis, she was hunting.

Finally they came to the escape pod hanger and outside was Xeth. He stood there in silence and opened the door to the hanger. Ellipsis remained silent, she was lost in thought. There were still serval escape pods inside the hanger. The escape pod was fairly large; originally designed to house a large amount of people. It was equipped with a control panel as well as a small medical center. Jane was placed in the medical center, while Xeth was task by Io, with great frustration, to pilot the escape pod out of the hanger. Io rushed between other escape pods grabbing extra supplies like food, water and medical supplies.

Ellipsis sat in the corner in the medical center. Black blood dripped from her hair and onto the floor as she stared at her sword. Io looked over Jane's injuries as Xeth piloted the escape pod out of the hanger. The quick, sudden shakes and sharp turns made Io leave the medical center and forced her to co-pilot. Jane and Ellipsis remained in the medical center in silence. Jane still had several spikes stuck in her. Io managed to get to most of them out but not all of them. Jane would eventually get tired of waiting and with a pencil in her mouth she pulled the remaining spikes out and cleaned her wounds. Jane then slumped down on the cot and rested. It wasn't long before the adrenalin ceased and she was writhing in pain. Io would come by and check up on Jane and Ellipsis. After looking over Jane and giving her some anti-biotic pills she approached Ellipsis but stopped as Ellipsis stared at her with grief and anger in her eyes. Io left Ellipsis to her thoughts.

When they were both alone again, Jane heard the sword hit the ground and the soft sounds of weeping. Ellipsis gripped the queen of cards as her tears blemished the floor. She felt completely empty inside. As if all color in the universe suddenly turned grey. She remained in the corner softly crying. Even though she only knew him for a short time, the pain she felt in her heart was great and heavy. She had lost a friend and it pained her now as it always has.

Jane sat on the cot in silence as well. She didn't see what had happened to Ridley but she can make a pretty good guess. He was a bit of a stuck up ass but he helped them escape. She didn't get to know Ridley as Ellipsis did but she understood what Ellipsis was going through and left her alone to grieve. Io was the sitting in the co-pilots chair, doing whatever she could to keep herself busy. But in moments of pause she stared off into the blackness of space and couldn't help but feel melancholy. It was a long day for all of them. As quiet hours rolled around, Io walked around and checked up on Jane and Ellipsis. Jane had fallen asleep in the cot when the pain pills had started to work and Ellipsis was still awake, staring at the queen of hearts that she placed on the floor.

"Hey…Ellipsis…" Io said with hesitation. She knew Ellipsis was going through a lot right now and was not sure how she was going to respond. Ellipsis picked her head up. There was a blank expression written on her face. Ellipsis said nothing, just stared at Io with her soulless eyes and her teared stained blank face. Io had a plan, she didn't know if it was going to work but she figured she might as well try.

"Want to see the stars?" Io said with a smile. There was a brief pause before Ellipsis stood up. She gave I small smile but it was a start. Ellipsis had only seen a small glimpse of outer space earlier on the space station but at that point she was paralyzed and didn't get much a look. Now here she was in the control room. Xeth was sitting in the co-pilots seat while Io sat in the captain's seat. As she stared out into the vastness of out space she felt a sense of relief within her. She was completely captivated by the sight. Stars painted across the sky. Unknown planets ripped with colors. Rich beautiful colors that danced across space, with mixtures of purples, yellows, blues and greens. Nothing like Ellipsis had ever seen. Five thousand years and she thought she'd seen everything. It gave her a funny feeling that anything was possible. As she gazed out into the great unknown in silence, Io was making slight adjustments to the ships position.

And soon there it was, right before Ellipsis; planet Earth. Ellipsis's jaw dropped at the sight. She knew it was Earth but it was still incredible. Here she was, on top of the world, looking down on everything.

"Welcome home Ellipsis." Io said as she looked at Ellipsis.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Earth defiantly was not the same Earth that Ellipsis had known. From outer space it had a more orange tint to it. The areas where there would be green on the planet's surface are now yellow and brown. The blue ocean was now orange. The clouds that circled the planet looked blacken and smoky. As the escape pod approached the planet, Jane appeared from behind Io and Ellipsis.

"A barren planet they call it; once a Garden of Eden, now a dried up wasteland." Jane said with a sigh. Io flipped a few switches and Jane started to scan the surface for a possible safe landing place as well as gather radiation levels.

"There's not going to be much. Reports have not been very positive on the state of the planet. No signs of life." Jane said as she continued to monitor the screens. Ellipsis gave Jane an inquisitive look.

"We're going to be able to breathe right?" Ellipsis said while raising an eyebrow at Jane. Jane looked back at Ellipsis and rolled her eyes at her.

"Of course..." Jane said with a smile. Then something on the monitor began flashing. It caught the attention of both Jane and Io. Ellipsis had no idea what was going on. She never really knew too much about machines or computers. The windmill was an amazing thing when it was first introduced and electricity was just way out of her league for close to thirty years and yet cameras were feasible for her to comprehend. Io looked over at the monitors and then looked up at Jane with a concern look. Jane looked back at Io with the same look. Whatever it was it was certainly disconcerting.

"Could check it out…" Io said. Jane didn't say anything but gave her a nod in agreement. Ellipsis was still out of the loop and was slightly confused by the antic of the two. It was like they were speaking in a language of their own. Io then moved the controls forward and the escape pod began to tilt downward, heading for earth. As the escape pod entered in the atmosphere, Ellipsis was once again intrigued by the cloud of smoke and the orange glow of the escape pod as it passed through. The rumbling and violent shaking of the escape pod did not put Ellipsis at ease, as she started getting motion sick. She felt her stomach turn upside down and before she knew it, she dropped to the floor and puke. This of course surprised both Jane and Io. Jane rushed over to assist Ellipsis and try to move her to a more stable area that or at least give her an appropriate area to vomit. After they passed through the atmosphere and the rumbling ceased, Ellipsis was fine. Suddenly from the control room, Jane heard Io call out her name.

Jane left Ellipsis in the medical room lying on the cot with a bucket next to her in case of sudden turbulence. Ellipsis had forgotten that she got motion sickness and didn't expect this sudden occurrence. When Jane walked into the control room her jaw dropped. Outside, through the window, there stood right in front of them something completely unexpected. It was a tree. It stood about fifty feet tall and casted a large shadow over the ground. All around it, lushes green had surrounded it. Its leaves were a bright pink and its branches stretched out far. Jane was left speechless as well as Io. Strange blue fruit hung from the branches.

For a moment they said nothing only just gawked at the sight. Everything they knew about the planet has been tossed out. Jane quickly ran around the escape pod while Io set coordinates for landing. Jane ran into the medical room where Ellipsis was resting.

"Ellipsis…!" Jane shouted out. Ellipsis rolled over to look at her with one eyebrow raised. Jane couldn't bear to form a proper sentence. She just chuck out random words such as 'look' and 'tree' while making excited motions with her hands. Ellipsis continued to look at Jane with query in her eyes as Jane ran around the medical room gathering sheets of paper and a pen. The escape pod landed with a thud and Ellipsis could hear more running around all over the escape pod from both Io and Jane. Whatever it was, it must have been something important. But as Ellipsis got up to leave the medical room she spotted a familiar creature.

Over in the corner of the room, sitting on a stool was a red fox. Ellipsis froze up. She knows she defiantly seen that fox before somewhere and it was most certainly not in the room with her before. Ellipsis turned to the fox, who continued to sit on the stool and gaze at Ellipsis.

"What are you and what do you want?" Ellipsis said in a distress yet quiet tone. The fox said nothing, only stood up and before Ellipsis knew it, it had vanished. Ellipsis stood in the doorway of the medical room for another few minutes before being dragged away by Io.

"Ellipsis, you have to see this. It's incredible." Io said as she tugged Ellipsis by the scruff of her shirt. Ellipsis was still lost in thought about the fox, she say nothing. Io took Ellipsis to the control deck and showed her the sight outside. Ellipsis stared at it for a bit, unsurprised. Then a thought occurred to her.

"You guys said this planet was dead. And what I am seeing right now, is not a planet that's dead." Ellipsis said in a condescending tone as she looked at Jane and Io. Jane and Io looked at her and simply rolled their eyes. This was far too exciting for them to care about Ellipsis's apathetic tone. Jane looked at her monitors one last time and told Io to fetch some gasmask incase the monitors were wrong. As the group assembled near the opening hatch, Jane and Io still showed their level of anticipation. Jane was thinking about the possibilities of getting some samples of the wild vegetation and possibly setting up a colony. Io was anxious to explore a new world. Ellipsis on the other hand, was terrified. As soon as she got close to the hatch and the gate started to slowly open she thought she heard a voice calling her name.

A feeling came over Ellipsis as the hatch came fully down and they stepped out into the sunlight. It was a peaceful, warm feeling; one that was comfortable and at the same time, somewhat familiar. As Jane and Io made their first steps on the green grass they gazed at the world for the first time. For a couple that have spent their whole lives in space, walking around on a planet felt weird to them. As they made their first few steps on the plant's surface they lost their balance a few times. It was a whole new experience for them. For Ellipsis, it was another day for her on planet Earth; except everything felt calm, peaceful and quiet. She didn't know if it was because she had spent too much time in the Umbral Sphere or in the presence of the Black Mirror but she suddenly found herself at ease. As she sat down on the grass she didn't hesitate to removed her gasmask and take in a deep refreshing breath of air. The warm sum hitting her face was just right. The feel of the grass prickling the back of her head as she rested on the ground was perfect.

Jane and Io saw what Ellipsis had done and hastily rushed over to her, thinking she had inhaled a toxic gas but Ellipsis assured the two that the air was breathable and harmless. After Io and Jane hesitated to remove their gasmask they did so together. The first breaths of air they took were overwhelming for them. After for a while the three stood up from their resting spot and decided to explore the area. Jane and Io still wobbled a bit as they walked around.

Jane went off and took some samples of the leaves from the trees and some blades of grass. The leaves of the trees came in all sorts of colors, blue, green and even yellow. This was astounding for Jane as she only read about trees in books and the only vegetation she had ever previously come to see prior to landing on Earth was the potted plant she had on her desk before it got destroyed and turned into a homemade cigar. As she moved around the local area she found a little stream and took some samples of the water there. Io walked around and gazed at the size of the area. Despite only having one functioning arm, she didn't let that get in the way of her handling heavy objects and climbing trees to get a better view of the surrounding area. The open spaces all around her was still a new thing but she couldn't help but feel excited by it. Ellipsis on the other hand, while enjoying her walk around, kept hearing a distant voice calling her name. It seemed unreal but after all she'd been through it wasn't out of the realm of possibilities. Ellipsis decided to seek out the source of the voice. The voice seemed to becoming from the direction of the large tree with the pink leaves. As Ellipsis made her way over there she was accompanied by Jane and Io who were curious about the tree as well.

As they got close to the tree Ellipsis reached out her hand to touch the tree and suddenly felt a shock of pain on her back. Ellipsis froze in front of the tree. It was a sharp pain and it seemed to spread across her back, down her legs and through her arms. As it reached the back of her head she cried out in pain. Jane and Io examined Ellipsis and immediately saw golden streaks through her shirt on her back, starting from the center, stretching all across her body. Jane was about to take Ellipsis back to the ship when suddenly a figure appeared out of nowhere and struck Jane in the face with the butt of a long range rifle. The figure wore a hood over their head and a mask to conceal its face. It was carrying a rifle that was covered in foliaged. Io was about to take a swing at the figure but was shot in the stomach. A dart with a red feather stuck out of Io's chest as she fell back on the ground, unable to move.

Ellipsis already on the ground writhing in pain; quickly rolled over to face her attacker. The figure looked over at Ellipsis. There was a brief pause and the figure whispered a single word.

"Nyssia…?" The figure said as it leaned in on Ellipsis's face. Ellipsis didn't hear the word; she was preoccupied with the burning sensation on her back. The figure reached out and grabbed a hold of Ellipsis chin and moved her head side to side.

"So similar, almost identical..." The figure said as they stood up and backed away from Ellipsis. At this point the pain had subsided enough that Ellipsis was able to stand up herself. She quickly looked to her friends. In that moment the figure removed their mask, revealing their face to Ellipsis.

It was the face of an old woman. She had dark skin and white hair. Her eyes looked like she had seen a hundred battles in her lifetime and had grown tired of it. She starred at Ellipsis with a compassionate smile. Ellipsis was about to say something but suddenly the old woman placed her finger on Ellipsis mouth.

"Shhh…. Your friends are going to be okay. They are just resting." The old woman said in a quiet tone with a smile.

"Forgive my action, but it has been so long since I've seen another soul here I didn't know if you were hostile or not." The old woman said as she removed her hood.

"So why did you stop?" Ellipsis asked. The old woman just looked at Ellipsis and then said.

"It was the tree my dear. It seems that they tree knows you. The pain you felt was a mark left by the tree. And this tree doesn't leave its mark on anyone. Just the ones it knows." The old woman said as she placed her rifle down. Ellipsis looked at the old woman and then looked back at the tree. Something about the tree felt off. Ellipsis had a feeling this was no ordinary tree and the pain she just felt reminded her of something.

"You seem lost child, come. Let's talk." The old woman said as she reached out and gently grabbed Ellipsis hand and pulled her down on the ground.

"My name is Tanya and I've lived here for the past fifty years. I've seen many people come and go, some brandishing weapons and some bearing gifts. What is your name child?" Tanya asked in a kind voice.

"Ellipsis Tannin..." Ellipsis replied as she looked over at Jane and Io. It seemed that Io was still awake but couldn't move and Jane was unconscious. Tanya reached into her bag that she had on her back and pulled out some pieces of bread.

"Here child, you should eat something." Tanya said as she handed Ellipsis the pieces of bread. Ellipsis took the pieces of bread and started to eat it. It has been a while since she had actual food and not tomato paste or a bowl of weird soup. This was actual food that she held in her hands and it was amazing. The tree beside them started to give off a hum.

"So what's with the tree?" Ellipsis asked as she looked at the tree and then back to Tanya. To Ellipsis the tree felt like it was staring at her and she couldn't shake the feeling of its presence.

"Why don't you ask it yourself?" Tanya said as she pulled out a tea cup and a canister of hot water from her bag. Ellipsis looked back at the tree. Ellipsis stood up and walked slowly over to the tree, expecting the pain to return. But it didn't. Ellipsis reached out her hand and gently pressed it against the bark of the tree. The tree felt warm to the touch. It started to hum again. Ellipsis could feel a vibration under her hand. Then she heard the sound of bark snapping. Ellipsis backed away a few feet as the base of the tree started to transform. From the sides of the tree, arms sprouted out and a face was molded on the tree and soon a head emerged from the tree. Its eyes opened with a white glare and stared at Ellipsis. A moment later the figure pulled itself from the tree and stood right in front of Ellipsis. It had a feminine figure with long hair. The wood it was made of was smooth as glass and shinned in the sun.

"Child lost in time, I knew you would come." The figure spoke to Ellipsis. Ellipsis was taken back by the sight and remained silent.

"There is darkness rising. I've felt its presence. This world is in terrible danger." The figure spoke.

"The Umbral Sphere…" Ellipsis said. The figure looked at Ellipsis and smiled.

"I believe you've met my counterpart in the Umbral Sphere. He gave you the Black Mirror." The figure said.

"Counterpart…? Then you must be the wizard of the Photonic Sphere." Ellipsis said.

"You are correct young one; I am the Guardian of the Photonic Sphere. And I must ask you for your assistance as my counterpart have asked of you." The Guardian said. Ellipsis gave the Guardian a curious look. She knew it would be related to the Black Mirror but didn't know exactly what was to be done.

"The Black Mirror has been brought into this world and has been abused in this world as well as the next. It needs to be destroyed. Unfortunately no man made weapon can do it. For that you must have a non-man made weapon; the Dagger of Rah." The Guardian said.

Suddenly it all came back to Ellipsis. The pain of the dagger being inserted into her back, the warm light she felt, the breaking of her flesh and bones and suddenly Death's embrace. Ellipsis took a few steps back.

"Hey, there has to be another way. I don't want to touch that thing again." Ellipsis said in a panic tone.

"Fear not lost one, for you have been reborn again in light and not in shadow. Though your soul has been tainted, the dagger will not harm you." The Guardian said as she waved her hand. Then from the base of the tree a bright yellow light burst through and a golden curved handle emerged.

"Take the dagger, destroy the Black Mirror and seal the gates between this world and the world of shadow forever." The Guardian said as it stepped out of the way. Ellipsis starred at the dagger's handle as it protruded from the tree. It was a weird feeling. She remembered the first time she laid eyes upon it. It was when she was still a queen. The servants of the undead had been digging in the desert for five years searching for a relic that could be used against her and her empire. The scholars told her at the time that the Dagger of Rah was a divine relic of the Photonic Sphere and if they could get their hands on it and secure it, no one would be able to stop the Umbral Sphere from consuming the Photonic Sphere. Ellipsis walked up to the dagger and grabbed a hold of its handle. It had a warm feel to it, as if it was alive. As she pulled it out the curved golden blade shinned in the sun.

"Child I must warn you. Be careful, for destroying the Black Mirror could have disastrous consequences." The Guardian said. Ellipsis looked back at her confused.

"How so...?" Ellipsis said as she examined the dagger in her hand.

"If one of the objects is destroyed the other will be destroyed as well. There must always be a balance. The Black Mirror houses within the power of time and darkness while the Dagger of Rah houses within it the power of life and light. Should these two be destroyed the power unleashed from both would be enormous. I do not know what will happen to you my dear, but I can sense you are living on borrowed time." The Guardian said as it lowered its head in shame. This was defiantly not the kind of news that Ellipsis had wanted to hear. After everything that she has been through, everything that she has done; here was the result of it. Ellipsis looked as if she was about to cry, she clutched the dagger in her hand. Ellipsis lowered her head as a single tear rolled down her face.

"There's no other way is there?" Ellipsis said with a melancholy tone. The Guardian stared back at Ellipsis and shook her head.

"I'm afraid not. If the Umbral Sphere were to consume the Photonic Sphere, darkness and shadow would reign over these lands for all eternity. You already have seen that occur in your timeline." The Guardian said. Ellipsis perked her head back up.

"Yeah…" Ellipsis said as she put her head back down. There was nothing left for her to do or say. She had seen what had happened before and she knew what it took to end it. And now, after all this time, it seems like everything was starting back up again. But this time she has a chance to end it everlastingly. To make things right again. If the gateway was to be sealed, then the forces of the Umbral Sphere could never come back to the Photonic Sphere. And maybe things can start over. But something else had occurred to Ellipsis.

"Where are my friends?" Ellipsis asked the Guardian. The Guardian looked at Ellipsis and smiled.

"Fear not, your friends are safe. You will see them again." The Guardian said as it walked towards the tree and suddenly burst into a hundred fireflies and flew away. Ellipsis at this point didn't know whether to believe it or not. That was what the wizard of the Umbral Sphere had said. Tanya for the entire time this was going on was making herself a cup of tea and quietly drinking it.

"You seem to have quite the task ahead of you child." Tanya said as she took another sip of her tea.

"Yeah…God I wish I had some booze." Ellipsis said with a sigh.

It wasn't long before Jane woke up and Io was able to move. After Tanya explained her position to both Jane and Io tensions between them seemed to ease down. Io was still mad about Jane getting hit and sat in between Tanya and Jane. As the sun sat the group discussed what was left to be done. Both Jane and Io thought the whole idea was pure suicide. Tanya and Ellipsis agreed but the alternative would mean the end of the Photonic Sphere as they knew it. For some time they decided that the only solution was to go back and destroy the Black Mirror.

It was a long night for them. They knew what they were getting themselves into and they were all scared in their own way. Tanya helped them set up an old fashion campsite and taught Jane and Io how to make fire using dried up leaves and sticks. It was a nice distraction from the task they had upon them and they all cherished each other's company more now than they did before. They all gathered around the campfire that Jane and Io made with food and water. Io even brought out the ale that Ridley had given to her and passed it around to everyone.

Ellipsis told stories of the Jane and Io she knew and even went on to mention the rest of the friends she had waiting for her in more detail. It was at this point when she mentioned Nyssia, that Tanya perked her head.

"Tell me about Nyssia. Did she have red hair and a devilish smile?" Tanya asked. Ellipsis pause her stories for a moment and looked at Tanya.

"Yeah…she did…How did you know that?" Ellipsis asked. Maybe she knows where Nyssia is in this timeline. Tanya sat in silence and turned her head towards the fire. Tanya reached into her pocket and pulled out a smooth black stone. In the center was a large T carved into it.

"She was a good friend of mine. She made this for me a long time ago. We traveled for a while out here. There were moments where it was just the two of us and we slept under the stars more times than I can count. She died one day. Bullet passed through her throat. I buried her with my own hands…" Tanya said in a dismal tone. As she thought more of her friend the tighter she squeeze the stone in her hand; until finally she let it go and a tear rolled down her face.

"It was a very long time ago." Tanya said as she concluded her tale and wiped away her tears.

"Anyway, if you are serious about fighting this army of darkness, then I would like to aid you in your task." Tanya said with a smile. Jane and Io looked at each other and then back at Ellipsis with concerned looks.

"Are you sure you'll be able to handle yourself up there?" Jane asked. Tanya looked back at her and gave her a grin.

"Heh, old soldiers are hard to kill. We don't go away so easily. This one here knows what I am talking about." Tanya said as turned towards Ellipsis. Ellipsis only looked back. Tanya had a point, old soldiers die hard. It wasn't long before they group fell asleep underneath the stars. Everyone was fast asleep, everyone except Ellipsis. She had a lot of things on her mind. She wondered if she will return. She wondered if this would be the last time she'll look up and see the stars. She wondered where her friends were and if they were okay. Somewhere out there, spinning around in the blackness of space was the gateway to the Umbral Sphere and where Joffrey would be waiting. Ellipsis laid back and watched the stars above her. If this was to be the end, at least she would go with her friends by her side. That much put a smile on her face as she closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Life is strange sometimes. You seem to start at one point and go on a complete journey that takes you all over the place, only to end up back where you started. And all this time you're not aware of what's going on. You try to take control but sometimes it's too much. And then you realize that it's best to let some things go. In the end you ride the storm. You cross an ocean of time; you've seen a million places and seen a million faces. And when it's over, you are back to where you started. That's when you realize that it's not the destination; it's the journey that really matters in life. And the sad part is, many people don't realize that until they are at the end of their journey. They look back at their memories and yearn for more. This is exactly what Ellipsis had come to realize as soon as the escape pod landed back on the space station. She knew she was at the end of her journey. As she looked back on her life she wished just one more day with her friends. But that's the tricky thing about life, it is never as it seems. You can be on top of the world one moment, and flat on your face the next. And as you lay there on the ground, writhing in pain as the universe stares at you, smile. Because sometimes that's all you have.

As the doorway opened and the thick air of the space station filled the escape pod, everyone felt a sense of doom. To Ellipsis, Io and Jane this felt familiar but it was much stronger than before. Tanya had never felt anything like this before; she had after all spent the last fifty years near the Guardian of the Photonic Sphere. The docking bay was dark and quiet. Whatever lights that were left on after they left were now out. Jane went back inside the escape pod and pulled out several flashlights. When the flashlights turned on the scene before them was something out of a nightmare.

The walls were covered in a red slimy paste. The floor seemed hairy and alive. Movements from behind the light's reach could be seen as well as little yellow eyes. Voices echoed gently across the air. On closer inspection of the walls, horrific faces could be seen within them. Jane, for a moment, appeared sick at the sight. Jane and Io walked out of the escape pod together. Io still had her robotic arm torn apart but still managed to strap a flashlight to it. Tanya walked out with her rifle at the ready and Ellipsis still had her sword in her hand and the Dagger of Rah tucked neatly behind her back.

"Tiny creatures live here now, some with very sharp teeth." Tanya said as she picked up what appeared to be a human bone off the ground. "This place is a nightmare." Tanya said as she stood and dropped the bone on the ground. All this time, Ellipsis was not surprised by the scene. She had seen this before.

"This was my home." Ellipsis said as she looked around. Memories suddenly flashed before Ellipsis of the castle she lived in for twenty years. The image made her flesh crawl. As they made their way through the docking bay and into the main lobby of the space station, what was once a wild jungle filled with different colors now looked like the inside of a monster. The floor was red and wet. The walls were painted with faces of strangers, all captured in a moment of true desperation and horror. Bones lay scattered across the floor. And puddles of boiling blood were scene in the corners of the room. The air smelled of foul rotting flesh. The group gathered near the large hole in the ground. They could still feel the heat from the explosion. The remnants of the monster stilled remained there untouched.

Ellipsis stood there for a moment in silence, remembering Ridley's last words. For a brief moment she saw him again, with his smile, running off into the blackness. And he was gone. Regret began to weigh heavy on Ellipsis's shoulders.

"It's been fun kid. See ya around." Ellipsis said under her breath. She still had the queen of heart in her pocket. Ellipses, holding back her tears, took a deep breath and face the group.

"What's the plan?" Ellipsis said with confidence. The group looked at one another with confusion.

"Well…" Jane started "We thought you would have a plan." Jane said as she looked at Ellipsis. Ellipsis only looked back at Jane and gave her a shrug. The group stood by in silence for a moment before being alerted to their surroundings.

Creepy, eerie sounds filled the air and wrapped itself around the group. From the walls, little yellow eyes could be seen. From the hallways to the north and west, footsteps could be heard. And an aura of darkness and fear could be felt as it gripped around the group. The group backed up to one another and soon they were surrounded by small black imps wielding long spears. Io stood with her broken robotic arm in a defensive position, ready to block anything that would attack her. Ellipsis held out her sword. Tanya readied her rifle and Jane stood in the back with the flashlight shining in the creature's faces. Their piercing silver blue eyes gazed at the group. They grinned, revealing green and yellow teeth. Maniacal laughter could be heard all around them. The group braced themselves for a battle but the group of imps remained still. Suddenly, way off in the distance, clapping could be heard.

"I applaud your efforts. Returning back here was a bold move indeed but none the less all too predictable. For even the eye of the Black Mirror saw your plan and so did I." A voice called out. It sounded raspy, dry and weak. The group looked around quickly to decipher where the voice had come from but their attention was drawn back to the horde that surrounded them with spears and swords. Suddenly there was movement from within the crowd. Imps stepped aside as a figure dresses in black armor stepped forward. He stood about six feet tall wearing a helmet that had several spikes protruding from it made from human bones. His face revelled a cold exterior and an icy heart.

"Drop your weapons, the high king wishes to speak to you in person." The man said. Almost as soon as the man said it, Io grit her teeth and prepared to fight. Io had one thing and one thing only on her mind in that moment, Jane. Jane on the other hand was more concerned what Io was going to do. In the times they have spent together she noticed that Io had a way with words, in that there were no words; only throwing punches and getting into trouble. Jane could feel Io's tension and feared the worse. Her fears were set aside though for a brief moment as the sound of metal making contact with the floor rang throughout the lobby. Jane turned only to see Ellipsis kick her sword off to the side and into the horde. The imps swarmed around it and giggling to themselves as they held the sword up away from Ellipsis.

Ellipsis only stared at them and raised her hands in the air in silence. Soon it was Tanya to lay her rifle down on the ground as well as her pack of ammo. A bead of sweat trickled down Io's back. She felt fear take hold of her. She started to tremble with hesitation. But then her fear was set aside as Jane reached out and took hold of her hand. It wasn't obviously written on her face as much as Io's but Jane was terrified as well. Io relaxed her arms. The man then turned his head towards the imps.

"Chains…" He said. The imps scampered forward with chains and manacles. Giggling to themselves, they clamped the manacles one by one. Io gave them a fierce look as they approached her with the chains. She didn't let go of Jane's hand. The group was dragged off, their weapons confiscated and their hands wrapped in black iron manacles.

They were dragged through a musty hallway and up a flight of stairs that looked, smelt and felt to be made from human flesh and human bones. Blue torches were lit all around them, giving off a cold and depressing feeling and all this time Io didn't let go off Jane's hand and Ellipsis remained silent. Tanya on the other hand remained calmed but calculated everyone's move. Like a chess player she was at least five steps ahead of everyone else.

The man led the group into a large room. The ceiling extended into blackness and a large table of food laid before them. Blue flames lit the candles that stretched around the room and on the table. At the very end of the table, seated in a red and gold chair onto of a red and gold carpet sat the king. He looked old. His hair was thinned and white. His eyes looked sagged and his skin looked shriveled. He appeared to be resting as his eyes were closed and yet so far away even the group could see he was slouching. The group was brought in and lined up against the wall. One imp on each end held the chain that connected the group. The man that led the group made his way over to the king and gentle rested his hand on the king's shoulder.

"My lord, I have brought the prisoners as requested." The man said. The king seemed to move his head slightly. His eyes slowly crept open, revealing a cold blue eyes. Eyes that have appeared to have seen the beginning and the end of time itself. Cold, lonely, tired eyes. The king glanced at the group, his eyes stopped on Ellipsis. A wicked smile cracked across his face.

"Excellent." The king said as he slowly stood up. Ellipsis knew right away from that wicked smile who the king was. She had a feeling that it would come down to this. The king made his way over to examine each person individually. First in the row was Jane. The king's cold glare made her shiver with fright.

"My dear" The king started. "You'd be wise to be afraid of me." With that the king moved on to Io. He laughed a bit at the sight of her damaged robotic arm.

"You may have a warriors heart, but you're too stubborn for your own good." The king said as he moved on to the next person. In that moment, if Jane wasn't holding onto Io's hand, Io would have punched the king right in the face. Tanya was next. All she did was stare at the king as he stared back at her. No words. Just silence. And finally, at the end of the line was Ellipsis. Who out of everyone, the king looked at and smiled.

"Release this one" The king ordered. The man looked at the king with confusion. The king looked back. "I said, release this one. I wish to talk to her." The king said as he turned around and walked back to his seat. The man was hesitate at first but eventually made his way over to unlocking Ellipsis's manacles.

"Sit down child. I wish to talk to you." The king said as he seated himself. Ellipsis made her way over to the nearest chair and sat down.

"I have seen a great deal of many things. I have seen the beginning and the end. The Black Mirror has a great deal of power of time and everything it touches. I have seen your past child. I have seen the struggles you endure and in doing so I have had struggles myself." The king said with a sigh.

"We have both seen a lot of things Joffrey. But for people like us, there is no happy ending." Ellipsis said with a sorrow smile. Joffrey looked at Ellipsis with an astound his face.

"Words I would expect from someone who has lived as long as I have." Joffrey said with a smile. The smile soon faded from his face as he slouched down.

"It feels like it's been an eternity since I last saw you. Time flows in a very strange way. You can start at one point, go all around the world and still end up back where you started. Tell me, Ellipsis. How do you do it? I know you've used the Black Mirror before. That is how you knew where my troops were. But as I used the Black Mirror I see myself age before my very eyes. Years of my life gone in an instant; while you remain youthful and untouched by time." Joffrey said. At first Ellipsis was shocked to be asked such a thing especially from Joffrey. The very same man who tortured her and turned her into a monster was now asking her about time and immortality. Ellipsis remained silent.

"At first I used the Black Mirror to gain victory here. Reclaim my title and honor. But that wasn't enough, I felt so empty. So I used it to go back in time and change a few things. Things I regretted, things I wished I had done differently. We all have those moments in our lives that we wish to change. I saw this moment coming. I saw your friends arrive long before they did. But one thing I could never see through the eye of the Black Mirror was you. Tell me, how do you do it." Joffrey said. He soon lifted his head and sat back. Ellipsis could see that time has not exactly been friendly with Joffrey. He seemed more tired than usual. This didn't seem like the man who she fought with a while back. The very same man she spat on. Ellipsis sat there in the chair and slowly sank into her thoughts. She didn't know too much about the Black Mirror, only that she used it once to change her past. She had no answers for Joffrey.

"I see…" Joffrey said as he stood up. In a quick motion he pulled out a sword from under the table. Ellipsis's eyes widen. Now here was the man she knew. Joffrey walked over to her, sword pointing directly at her.

"I have sacrificed too much now to let it all slip away from someone like you who seems to defy the laws of time." Joffrey said as he held the sword firmly in his hand. The blade was a few feet away from Ellipsis's nose. Joffrey reached behind him and from his pouch he pulled out a familiar object. It dangled from a chain and swung back and forth as if it was a pendulum in a clock. It was the Black Mirror.

"I let you get away from me once, never again." Joffrey said as he raised his sword.

With all of his might Joffrey swung the blade down at Ellipsis only for it to be blocked by a bright shining white light. Just as Joffrey brought down his sword Ellipsis pulled out the Dagger of Rah and blocked his attack. The surrounding imps shrieked out in terror as the light burned bright in the room. In that moment of panic and discourse Tanya took the opportunity and kicked one of the imps away from the chains they were holding. Soon panic broke out on both sides. Io let go of Jane's hand and proceeded to punch the imps that were holding her side of the chains while Tanya was busy unhooking hers.

Across the room near the table Joffrey reeled back with shock. The Dagger of Rah gave off a warm feeling. Creatures of the Umbral Sphere can only perceive the Dagger of Rah as a bright white light at first. But it wasn't long before the light faded and revealed the dagger to Joffrey. Fear and anger swelled in his eyes as he gripped his sword with two hands and charged after Ellipsis. Ellipsis dodged out of the way as Joffrey's sword came down and embedded into the wooden chair. Ellipsis took this moment to try to swipe at the Black Mirror but instead cut into Joffrey's left thigh. Black blood dripped on the floor as Joffrey let out a roar of pain. In his anger and frustration he was able to pull the sword out quickly and swing at Ellipsis but with an awkward step with the leg that was hit caused him to miss her once again.

Meanwhile while Joffrey and Ellipsis were fighting it out near the table, Tanya had successfully unhooked herself and started fighting off the Imps. Io was doing the same on the other side. Jane noticed that most the imps were heading out of the doorway and with a quick observation in the heat of the moment realized where they were in the space station. After Jane's chains were removed, courtesy of Tanya, she moved over to the side of the room and found the emergency switch to close the doors and seal them in the room.

The sound of the doors closing surprised Joffrey but that was a mistake, as Ellipsis took the moment to slash at the Black Mirror once again but instead of hitting it, she slashed at Joffrey's right arm.

"You vile witch!" Joffrey yelled out as he turned around and swung his blade at Ellipsis. Ellipsis unfortunately did not duck but instead tried to sidestep his attack. The searing pain in her shoulder indicated to her that that was a wrong move. She gripped her shoulder in pain. Joffrey was standing before her with a mocking grin on his face. Ellipsis, in her moment of agony, tried to swing at Joffrey but ultimately missed and she stumbled forward ,hunched over, nearly falling on the ground. With her back turned Joffrey took a swing at Ellipsis and made contact. Blood splattered on the floor as Joffrey slashed horizontal at Ellipsis. Ellipsis let out a roar of pain.

"I'll fucking kill you!" Ellipsis yelled out. Blinded with fury and hatred she lunged forward but missed. Joffrey took the opportunity to do some more damage to Ellipsis's back but she expected it this time and successfully blocked his attack. Both weapons now locked together as both Joffrey and Ellipsis struggled to gain the advantage. Blood and sweat dripped to the floor as the two danced around each other with hatred in their eyes. With a final push Ellipsis pushed forward and slide the dagger down Joffrey's blade, cutting into his arm. Joffrey gripped his arm and took a few steps back. He tried to lunge forward but missed. As he moved forward with his lunge Ellipsis, now ignoring the Black Mirror, slashed into Joffrey's chest. Joffrey leaned forward in pain but used that to his advantage as his spun around with his sword and cut Ellipsis's right hand.

Ellipsis took a few steps back as Joffrey readjusted himself, still holding his chest for a moment. The two both moved forward at each other. The sound of metal striking against one another ranged throughout the room. Meanwhile, Io and Tanya were busy fighting off the remaining imps in the room. Knocking them out cold. During the struggle, one of the imp managed to detach Io's broken robotic arm and use it against her. The imps were not well armed, many had little knives but nothing else. The ones that did have the weapons on them fled when they saw the Dagger of Rah. Io took a good slug to the face with her own robotic arm while Tanya was wrestling another imp. Jane had issues of her own as a few imps approached her and tried to tackle her. She managed to move out of the way and kick one out of the way. Jane made her way over to the table and grabbed one of the candles and slash at the remain imps.

Just on the other side of the table Joffrey and Ellipsis were still going at it and locking their weapons once again. Unfortunately for Ellipsis, Joffrey gained the advantage this time and slashed down her chest. There comes a time when the human body can no longer handle the pain and must shut itself down. Moments like these where Ellipsis took some much shock and damage at once that she slumped to the ground, dropping the dagger to the floor. She wasn't dead, that was obvious from her breathing and struggling to get up. She could feel her heat race, and the blood coming from her wounds. She was unable to do anything as Joffrey smiled at her and walked over.

"This is the end highlander." Joffrey said as he stood by her body. The Black Mirror dangled before her. Ellipsis had one chance. To once again cheat death and time. With all of her might she reached out and touched the Black Mirror. Everything around her froze. There was a faint blue tint over everything in the room. Ellipsis was still lying on the ground her finger now grasp around the Black Mirror. Just then, when it seemed like the world had became still and quiet; Ellipsis heard a voice.

"Well this is certainly a weird way of being born." The voice said. Ellipsis then heard footsteps and turned her head to see a shadowy blue figure stand before her. There was a faint red glow coming from the middle of the face, soon followed by smoke.

"Guess you would be my birth mom technically. Ah oh well. Can't pick em all. Here, let me help ya up." The voice said as it reached out with their hands and carefully lifted Ellipsis up. Ellipsis still couldn't make out any distinct features of the person before her, her vision was a little hazy from the shock and the lack of blood. She didn't know if she was hallucinating at this point or not. But her grip still remained firm on the Black Mirror.

"Well this is where I take my leave. Tootles." And with that the figure disappeared. Ellipsis stood there alone for a moment before realizing where she was. Blood dripped down her arm and through her hand and onto the Black Mirror.

She felt cold and weak. She pulled the Black Mirror out of Joffrey's hand. She has this one chance. She tried to think of a time to go back to. But she was feeling very light headed and only can recall in that moment that last few seconds leading up to her touching the Black Mirror. The pain swelled up inside her and it was unbearable. She couldn't think of anything else. She heard the sounds of the metal smacking against each other from within the Black Mirror. Soon the room around her vibrated. Everything slowly reversed itself. Joffrey walked back over a few feet away. Tanya and the others were just now looking in the direction of Ellipsis and Joffrey. The bright blue flames whooshed across the air as Jane fought against two imps. Io had just recovered her arm and then lost it again. Suddenly the room stopped vibrating. The blue tint was gone and Joffrey let how a call of horror as he realized Ellipsis was holding the Black Mirror in one hand and the Dagger of Rah in the other. Joffrey dropped his sword and raised his hand.

"What do you think you're doing?" Joffrey said with fear in voice. By this point Io had gotten her arm back and used it to beat the imp to death. Two imps got caught by the blue flames and screamed in pain and Tanya just finished throwing an imp onto the table. Ellipsis took a breath. She was tired.

"Fuck off…" Ellipsis said in an apathetic tone. And with those final words Ellipsis dropped the Black Mirror on the ground and thrust the Dagger of Rah straight into the heart of it.

There are lots of things that happen when two artifacts of ultimate power collide with one another. Even more things happen if the artifacts in question happen to be total opposites of each, for instance one light and one dark. The amount of energy that would be released if the two artifacts had collided would be enormous. The rippling effect would not only happen in one plane of existence but in all. There is also an unknown factor into this equation. Not every time two artifacts of great power that collide together are gonna have the same effect, there is always an unforeseen consequences. As Ellipsis plunged the Dagger of Rah into the Black Mirror, shattering the once invulnerable mirror, she was unaware of the consequences that were about to happen.

A bright white light shot out of the Black Mirror. The cracks within the mirror stretched across the face of the mirror and started to glow with a bright white light. The air around them turned into a gentle breeze from the air vents to gust of wind that blew everything around them. The blast of energy that followed was so powerful it knocked Ellipsis back. Joffrey rushed over in a state of panic but didn't realized what was about to happen. As the light from the mirror turned from a bright white light to a dark purple an evil laugh could be heard from within the mirror. A laugh and then soon a cry. Voice surrounded the area. Some familiar and some not. The dark purple light started to to get darker and heavier as the cracks in the mirror grew larger. The area around them started to quake. Suddenly it appeared as if the whole room was flipped upside down and the floor and the ceiling and even the walls appeared to be moving towards the Black Mirror. The blood from the floor seemed to fly towards the Black Mirror as it started to turn inward itself. Suddenly the gust of wind became a large burst of wind that started to swirl around the Black Mirror\\. The dark heavy purple light started to mix with the wind, creating a purple tornado. But instead of blowing things around the tornado started to suck.

Everything was obviously now being pulled towards the Black Mirror. Everything except Ellipsis, Io, Jane and Tanya. The food on the table flew across the room, the table and chairs and then the rug and the candles soon followed. Then there was a loud bang from the door. The door suddenly burst open and the imps and the monsters started to fly through the air and into the Black Mirror. Joffrey gripped the floor as best as he could but was too weak to hold on and eventually he found himself tossed into the unknown abyss of the Black Mirror. The scene was so chaotic with little shrieks of screams along with calls of distress and things flying through the air that no one really payed too much attention to what was going on.

When it was all over and the screaming stopped and the air was calm. The room Jane, Io, Tanya and Ellipsis was in looked like a mini storage space for large space ship parts. The room was clean with no signs of blood, except for Ellipsis, or imps running around or even Joffrey doe that matter. The table, the food and the blue candles were all gone. The door was still damaged and what came next no one really expected.

It was headlights. Headlights from a vehicle that rolled on wheels. The lights were getting bigger and shinning brighter. A roar of an engine was heard as through the doorway came a bus screeching across the empty surface. Jane and Io were both shock and had their backs up to the now clean wall. Tanya looked at the bus with shock and awe. The engine then turned off and the doors opened. A cheerful voice came from within the bus.

"Okie dokie folks. End of the line, everybody off!" From within the bus hopped off was Nyssia, wearing that cheerful yet unsettling smile. Her orange pigtails danced as she jump to the ground and spun around. She stopped short in front of Jane and Io and froze. Her head jerked back and forth repeatedly. Her smile had faded and was replaced with bewilderment. Her mouth hung open a bit and she started to point at Jane, then Io. Then Jane and Io again and she turned and started muttering some incoherent language to herself as she pointed at the bus. Samantha was the next one to step off the bus. She didn't noticed the other Jane and Io and moved over to Nyssia who was still babbling to herself.

"Nyssia, I know you're going to disagree" Samantha said as she folded her arms. "But can you please call your stops next time?" Samantha said as she adjusted her glasses and stared at Nyssia. Nyssia didn't stop her made up gibberish and was now facing the bus and counting her fingers, stopping at two and starting over. At this point Samantha noticed the other Jane and Io and froze. Her facial expression moved from scowling to shock.

"She's not going to call her stops not now or ever. You're simply wasting your breath sis." Ridley said as he stepped off the bus. Suddenly a shriek came from both other Jane and other Io as they looked upon Ridley who was still a Draconian. Ridley gazed upon the other Jane and Io who looked at him with fright.

"Oh boy…." Ridley said as he put his hands in his pockets. "Hey Io, Jane; you clowns better come see this." Ridley said as he moved away from the doors. Soon Jane stepped off the bus and was immediately taken back by surprise.

"Oh my goodness." Jane said.

"My word…" The other Jane said as they both stared at one another with curiosity and fascination in their eyes.

"Guys, Blu is missing!" Io said as she perked her head through the bus window. She suddenly recognized the other Jane and the other Io. The two Janes moved closer to one another and studied their features.

"Incredible." They both said simultaneously. Io moved her way out of the bus and stood there in shock. The other Io was surprised as well but was focused on the two Janes.

"Two….Janey's." The other Io spoke with red in her face.

"We may seem like complete copies but we are most definitely different." The other Jane said.

"Agreed, though we share physical traits such as the hair and the eyes and bone structure, our minds are completely different. Therefore making us two completely different people." Jane said.

"Astute observation Doctor Parker." Other Jane said.

"Why thank you Doctor Parker." Jane said.

Samantha pressed her finger against the sides of her head.

"Someone messed up with the timeline didn't they?" Samantha said in quiet frustration. Ridley gave a small chuckle to himself as he leaned up against the bus.

"Obviously." Ridley said as he pulled out a cigarette and started to light it.

Io suddenly burst out, "Guys, Blu is missing!" Io shouted out at everyone. Everyone turned to Io. The other Jane and other Io looked slightly confused while everyone else looked concern.

"Ellipsis is missing?" Samantha asked as she moved back to the bus to look inside. Realizing that Ellipsis wasn't on the bus Samantha grabbed the crystal from its container and hopped off the bus. Nyssia meanwhile was still babbling to herself at the doubles. Tanya remained silent in this event and watched. She saw Nyssia and she wondered if she would recognize her. Nyssia however, didn't look in her general direction. She was more concerned with counting her fingers.

"Holy hot crayons you guys are sisters!" Nyssia blared out. Everyone looked towards Nyssia. Many looked upon her words with confusion. Tanya on the other hand gave a smile. No one bothered to correct Nyssia on her conclusion, there was no need to.

On the other side of the room, Ellipsis struggled to pick herself up. Blood was still dripping from her wounds. She thought she heard the familiar voices of her friends. She raised her hand in distress. Her vision was blurry and her body ached with pain. She let out a groan as she struggled to hoist herself up but was unsuccessful. And something happened. A hand reached out to help her. Several hands lifted her up. She was still in a state of daze. There were voices all around her. Both sad and happy. Then came a warm feeling all around her cold body. Her vision slowly returned and she realized that she was surrounded by her friends at last. Her wounds seemed to have healed thank to Samantha's magic.

Ellipsis only smiled as she embraced her old friends after what seemed like a million years. A tear swelled up in her right eye. She was happy. But as the old saying goes. All good things must come to an end. And as Ellipsis and her friends walked towards the bus with feelings of victory, Ellipsis collapses to the ground.

Everyone turned in shock and horror and tried to once again lift Ellipsis up. Perhaps it was the shock of being reunited with her friends that got her weak. But as they got a closer look at her they noticed a few things. One by one the strains in her hair turned gray and then white. Her skin became wrinkled and her face aged. Everyone panicked at the sight. Samantha tried to heal Ellipsis once again using the crystal but it didn't have an affect. Ellipsis started to hunch over in pain as her backbones started to ache. Everyone around her placed her on the ground.

"Oh shit what do we do?" Samantha said as she placed her hands on her head and started to tear up. No one had an answer. The shine in Ellipsis's eyes soon turned dull. Her hair started to thin. In her final moments Ellipsis reached out with her frail hand and took a hold of Samantha's.

"Hey blondie, no need to cry" Ellipsis said in a weak voice. "At least you guys are here. At least...I go with my friends by my side." Everyone fell silent. Some started to cry. Others tried to stay strong but couldn't help the tears swelling in their eyes. Nyssia broke down.

"No...No! Tanya please! Don't leave me!" Nyssia shouted out as she dropped to her knees to embrace Ellipsis only to be pulled away by Tanya herself. Everyone knew this was the end for Ellipsis. With a final breath, Ellipsis's body gave a slight twitch and the light in her eyes faded away. She was gone. Her body continued to age rapidly until it was dust and the wind from the air ducts blew the dust away and into the air. All that remained were her bloody torn clothes.

For a brief moment everyone stood in a state of disbelief. Their friend had just vanished right before them and there was nothing they could have done. Nyssia was now hugging Tanya while still crying. Samantha collapsed on her knees with Ridley right beside her. The other Jane and the other Io were embracing each other as they both weeped. In a split moment of grief Samantha picked up the crystal and threw it at a wall, shattering it into a million peices. As the pieces fell to the ground they too turned to dust and was carried off by the wind. Io let out a roar and dropped to her knees, only to punch the ground until her knuckles bled. Jane stood in silence.

It wasn't long before a voice called out to the group from behind them.

"The end is never truly the end, unless you wish it to be." The voice said. The group turned around and were approached by a tall thin woman with long white hair that touched the floor as she walked. "We are all from many walks of life, and though life gives us great joy it can also leave us feeling departed and sad. My condolences goes out to each and everyone of you." The woman said as a blue rose formed from her hand. The group all faced the woman with sorrow in their eyes, they remained quiet as if expecting a miracle to happen.

"I am Zayola" the woman said as she took a bow. There soon was a cry coming from the distance. A baby's cry. Zayola turned and slowly made her way towards the direction of the cry. As she walked flowers grew from the floor where her feet touched and soon withered away as she moved from them. Zayola paused her movement and turned towards Ridley who was looking at her with a little smile.

"I see you're doing well Ridley." Zayola said. Ridley said nothing other than tip his hat to her as she continued her walk towards the cry. Far off on the other side, next to a pool of blood laid before Zayola a young baby, no more than 6 months old, crying.

"Nature has a funny way of balancing things. With Death comes Life." Zayola said as she picked up the baby. Zayola made her way back towards the group with the child wrapped in her arms.

"Worry not my dear. You're friend did not pass in vain. She has done a great deal amount of good than any of you will ever know. The bridge between this world and the next is severed. The gateway is closed, now and forever. And though this is the end of one story, it most certainly is not the end of yours." Zayola said as she started to walk away from the group. Out of the darkness a small red fox scattered itself towards Zayola and climbed up on her shoulders.

"Felix, so good to see you again." Zayola said with a smile. The group watched as Zayola and Felix disappeared into the darkness of the room. All that remained was a blue rose resting gently on the floor. Ridley walked over and picked up the blue rose, held it to his nose, and smelled it before placing it gently in his pocket.

Days had passed since Ellipsis faded away in front of everybody and the group had slowly started to move on. Though their hearts were filled with much grief over the loss, they still were able to cheer one another up with stories. Stories of old from Io, Jane, Ridley, Samantha and Nyssia to stories of new from the other Jane, the other Io and Tanya. The entire space station was empty but there was no trace of demonic activities. The research papers on the Black Mirror were completely destroyed. As time wore on the group became closer and closer friends than when they initially met. The two Janes spent most of their time reading over books and playing strategic board games with one another. The two Ios would often challenge one another to a sparring match to see who was the strongest one. Needless to the say the original Io with her new added werewolf strength and the advantage of having two arms put up a challenging fight for the other Io. It wasn't long before the other Io was given a new robotic arm from the spare parts around the space station.

Nyssia took some time to calm down after the shock of watching Ellipsis's death but she was able to cope with the help of Tanya, who was more than willing to help her old friend. Together they reminisce of their past adventures and though they come from separate timelines, their stories seemed to line up quiet uncanningly. Ridley spent most of his time hanging around the bus drinking. Samantha spent her time researching the equipment on the space station. With the population of the space station drastically reduced, there was not enough personnel to keep the station running properly. Often times power would go out in certain areas and the flux of oxygen was drastically shift from one area to another. The group decided to meet together one last time before departing their ways.

They met in the hangar where the escape pod that flew Ellipsis, the other Jane and Io and Tanya, rested. The other Jane was there bright and early, gathering supplies. The night before, the other Jane and Io decide that they were going to leave the space station together and live on Earth. They both agreed it was a fitting place to spend their retirement. As other Jane was finishing up rounding supplies she heard the roar of the engine from busbus coming down to the hangar. The bus pulled up near the escape pod. The doors opened and Ridley stepped off. He greeted other Jane with a wave and a smile. It wasn't long before the two Ios showed up with fresh bruises. They had apparently had one last fight before their departure. Tanya and Nyssia was next to arrive and finally Samantha and Jane.

"So Doc, you never said where you were going." Ridley finally asked. He figured it be better to ask when everyone was present and accounted for. The other Jane looked back at him with a smile as the other Io walked up beside her smiling.

"Well, we decided that Earth was the best place for us to live, considering the state of this place." The other Jane said. Ridley chuckled to himself.

"Yeah, well good luck with that kid." Ridley said as he pulled out a bottle of whiskey from his coat. The other Jane and the other Io looked at him inquisitively.

"And what about you space pirate?" The other Jane asked. Ridley almost choked on the whiskey he was drinking. Spitting it all over the floor with a few laughs in between. Of all the names that he has been called, 'Space Pirate' sounded the best. After he readjusted himself, all he did was look at the other Jane and the other Io and give them a shrug. Luckily for him, Samantha had a better answer than just silence.

"We figured that since we have a whole new universe opened up to us, that exploring it seemed the best option." Samantha said as she picked up a crate and carefully moved it inside the bus.

"Hell yeah!" Io shouted as she slapped Ridley on the back.

"Hey Red, ya coming?" Io asked towards Nyssia, who was strangely standing next to Tanya in silence. Nyssia hesitated for a moment. The initial shock she took a few days ago seemed to configure something in her brain and now things seemed a bit more clearer.

"Uh, Io...I'm sorry" Nyssia said in a melancholy tone. "I want to stay with Tanya." Nyssia declared.

"Well, it seems our little family has gotten a little smaller." Jane said as she stood there in shock.

"Are you sure?" Ridley asked. He knew the answer before he asked it. Nyssia nodded in agreement with a smile.

"Don't worry about her, I'll take good care of her on Earth." Tanya said as she placed her hand on Nyssia's shoulder.

"Yes, I do believe you will." Jane said.

The groups loaded up their respective vehicles with supplies and fuel. Before they left they all met together one last time in between the two vehicles and wished one another the best of luck on their next adventures. There were some tears in and some laughs. But one thing they each knew, this was not the end of their adventures and there were plenty more to come. As the escape pod flew off, heading towards Earth, Ridley sat in the driver's seat of the bus and gave one last look at the surrounding area.

"It's been fun kid. See ya around." Ridley said under his breath. He put his hand in his pocket and pulled out the queen of hearts and a blue rose and placed them on the control panel. Ridley knew this wasn't the end. After all, as Zayola pointed out, though this story is now over, their story is most certainly not.


End file.
